They Shoot Horses, Don't They?
During the Depression, a desperate aspiring actress and a would-be director are consumed by a brutal dance marathon that turns human endurance into public entertainment.
Overview
In a desperate bid for hope, two souls dance on the edge of despair.
Ember's analysis
- Pacing
- Measured
- Intensity
- Extreme
- Complexity
- Layered
- Violence
- Mild
- bleak
- harrowing
- claustrophobic
- serious movie night
- classic cinema viewing
What critics said
Critics broadly praised the film as a disturbing, masterfully acted re-creation of Depression-era dance marathons and a powerful study of exhaustion, futility, and American society, while acknowledging some heavy-handedness.
What sets it apart
May contain story progression spoilers
The dance marathon turns bodily collapse and emotional despair into entertainment for spectators and profit for organizers.
Gloria, Robert, and the other contestants enter the marathon for prize money amid widespread Depression-era desperation.
The camera remains largely within the marathon ballroom as the dancers endure exhaustion, competition, and emotional breakdown.
Gloria's hopelessness and the marathon's demand for endless endurance frame survival as coercion rather than triumph.
Films like They Shoot Horses, Don't They?, and why
Midnight Cowboy
shared new hollywood pessimism, social critique, psychological intensity, and bleak examination of economic desperation
The Grapes of Wrath
shared depression-era setting, stark social realism, endurance under poverty, and emotionally devastating drama
One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
shared claustrophobic institutional setting, escalating psychological distress, and critique of dehumanizing systems
The Deer Hunter
shared historical drama, moral exhaustion, ensemble pressure, and corrosive spectacle
Movie Details
- Director
- Sydney Pollack
- Release Date
- 1969-12-10
- Runtime
- 120 min
- Rating
- 7.6 / 10 (388)
Cast
- Jane Fonda
- Michael Sarrazin
- Susannah York
- Gig Young
- Red Buttons
- Bonnie Bedelia
- Michael Conrad
- Bruce Dern
- Al Lewis
- Robert Fields
Common questions
- What is They Shoot Horses, Don't They? about?
- During the Depression, a desperate aspiring actress and a would-be director are consumed by a brutal dance marathon that turns human endurance into public entertainment.
- What is They Shoot Horses, Don't They? like to watch?
- Ember's analysis rates the pacing of They Shoot Horses, Don't They? as measured, its intensity as extreme and its storytelling as layered.
- Is They Shoot Horses, Don't They? violent?
- Only mildly. Ember rates the violence in They Shoot Horses, Don't They? as mild.
- What did critics think of They Shoot Horses, Don't They??
- Critics broadly praised the film as a disturbing, masterfully acted re-creation of Depression-era dance marathons and a powerful study of exhaustion, futility, and American society, while acknowledging some heavy-handedness.
- Which films are like They Shoot Horses, Don't They??
- Films with a similar feel include Midnight Cowboy, The Grapes of Wrath, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, and The Deer Hunter.
- How long is They Shoot Horses, Don't They??
- They Shoot Horses, Don't They? runs 120 minutes.
