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They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

1969

Sydney Pollack

Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Susannah York, Red Buttons ...

7.3

6,535

Drama In the dark years of the 1930s, dance marathons became popular as a way for desperate people to compete for prize money. Sometimes the events would drag on for weeks as contestants pushed themselves far beyond the point of physical, mental, and emotional exhaustion, the dancers shambling around the floor in a half-dead stupor. People would then pay to sit in the bleachers, watch the event, and cheer on their favorites. They Shoot Horses ... [+]

	Author	Review
Spain	FilmAffinity	"They Shoot Horses, Don't They" hold this record: Most nominations (9) without a Best Picture bid. Sydney Pollack's 1969 drama earned an impressive 9 Oscar nominations, but the film could break through in the Best Picture race.	POS
United States	Roger Ebert Chicago Sun-Times	"One of the best American movies of the 1970s"	POS
United States	Variety Staff Variety	"A sordid spectacle of hard times, a kind of existentialist allegory of life."	POS
United States	Vincent Canby The New York Times	"The movie is far from being perfect, but it is so disturbing in such important ways that I won't forget it very easily"	POS
United States	Dave Kehr Chicago Reader	"The material is simple and irresistible, and Sydney Pollack stages it well (though without transcending the essential superficiality of his talent)."	POS

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