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They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)

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All Critics
Top Critics

Average Rating: 7.4/10
Reviews Counted: 24
Fresh: 20 | Rotten: 4

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Average Rating: N/A
Critic Reviews: 3
Fresh: 3 | Rotten: 0

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Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 5,062

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Movie Info

A total of nine Academy Award nominations went to this wildly acclaimed, allegorical drama set amongst the contestants in a marathon dance contest during the Great Depression. Gig Young stars as Rocky, the obnoxious emcee for a dance marathon that offers prize money of $1,500, a small fortune during hard economic times that brings out the worst in several participants. Among them are Gloria Beatty (Jane Fonda), a malcontent who's partnered with a drifter, Robert Syverton (Michael Sarrazin); a

PG, 2 hr. 1 min.

Drama

Directed By: Sydney Pollack

In Theaters: Dec 10, 1969 Wide

On DVD: Mar 13, 2001

Anchor Bay Entertainment

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? Trailer & Photos

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Critic Reviews for They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

All Critics (25) | Top Critics (3) | Fresh (20) | Rotten (4) | DVD (7)

The material is simple and irresistible, and Sydney Pollack stages it well (though without transcending the essential superficiality of his talent).

May 26, 2008 Full Review Source: Chicago Reader

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Dave Kehr

Chicago Reader

Top Critic

A sordid spectacle of hard times, a kind of existentialist allegory of life.

May 26, 2008 Full Review Source: Variety

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Variety Staff

Variety

Top Critic

The movie is by far the best thing that Pollack has ever directed (with the possible exception of The Scalphunters).

May 20, 2003 Full Review Source: New York Times

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Vincent Canby

New York Times

Top Critic

There has never been a film quite so original as this, featuring a wealth of noted actors fighting for their lives in a dance competition taking place during the Great Depression.

August 15, 2011 Full Review Source: Oscar Guy

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Wesley Lovell

Oscar Guy

An allegorical, socially conscious response to the injustices of the Depression era.

May 26, 2008 Full Review Source: TV Guide's Movie Guide

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TV Guide's Movie Guide

Pollack's adaptation of Horace McCoy's depression era novel has not dated well.

May 26, 2008 Full Review Source: Film4

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Film4

Grim but compelling tale set in a Depression era dance marathon. Gig Young deservedly copped the Oscar.

February 17, 2008 Comment

Steve Crum

Video-Reviewmaster.com

Sydney Pollack's screen version of the powerful Depression-era dance marathon is extremely well acted, particularly by Jane Fonda as the suicidal actress, her first great performance.

January 4, 2007 Full Review Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com Source: EmanuelLevy.Com

The acting is strident and overblown, the narrative technique gimmicky and obvious, and the implication that the competitors' situation is a microcosm of a wider-reaching American malaise rather pretentious.

June 24, 2006 Full Review Source: Time Out

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Time Out

Overblown, but good anyway.

December 21, 2004 Comment

Eric Lurio

Greenwich Village Gazette

Dated, condescending moralizing

June 25, 2004 Comment

Daniel Eagan

Film Journal International

Overly melodramatic.

January 20, 2004 Full Review Source: Ozus' World Movie Reviews

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Dennis Schwartz

Ozus' World Movie Reviews

A riveting parable about America during the Depression.

January 19, 2004 Full Review Source: Spirituality and Practice

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Frederic and Mary Ann Brussat

Spirituality and Practice

Jane Fonda and Michael Sarrazin portray one of the more sordid depression stories about survival on a dance floor to bring home the bacon.

April 23, 2003 Comment

Moira Sullivan

FilmFestivals.com

Bleak but exquisitely fashioned.

March 10, 2003 Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle

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Marjorie Baumgarten

Austin Chronicle

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Audience Reviews for They Shoot Horses, Don't They?

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A mostly competently made, fascinatingly bleak tale concerning a dance marathon and how some very different characters are affected by its rigorous rules. This movie came so close to being a great, uncompromisingly grim look on the state of show-business, but it makes a deadly mistake at its conclusion, going a step

July 29, 2010

Dan Schultz

Super Reviewer

They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is one of those movies where you recognize its greatness as you watch it, but at the same time you know you're watching a really well-orchestrated gruesome car crash that you probably don't ever, ever need to see again. Jane Fonda radiates brassy bitchiness to the point of arousal (for me

November 23, 2006