Dance, Girl, Dance

Of all Maureen O'hara's pictures, this is definitely one of her best. How good would Lucille Ball have been as the streetwise floozy without Maureen's counter-role as a decent and moral girl struggling to overcome obstacles to fulfill her dream of becoming a dancer. Not once does her performance stray into the realm of treacle, her character, though perhaps a little naive never becomes timid to the point where she can't take care of herself in the clutch. She handles Lucy quite admirably in the latter stages of this film. Tis true Lucille Ball does her fair share of scene stealing and her performance is effective, but this is still Maureen's picture all the way. Also good performances by Louis Hayward (his only good role?) and Ralph Bellamy ensure this movie is well worth sitting through.