Films

Dancing Co-Ed (MGM 1939)

Artie Shaw plays Lana a tune in 1939's "Dancing Co-Ed".

Production Dates: July 19, 1939-August 1939

Release Date: September 29, 1939.

Credited Cast and Crew:

Lana Turner, Ann Rutherford, Artie Shaw, Richard Carlson.

Directed by: S. Sylvan Simon

Writing Credits: Herbert Fields (treatment uncredited), Albert Manheimer (screenplay), Albert Traynor (story)

Produced by: Edger Selwyn

Original Music by: David Snell, Edward Ward, Nacio Herb Brown, Stephen Foster, Ernesto Lecuona, Carmen Lombardo, Charles O' Flynn and Artie Shaw

Non-Original Music by: Ludwig Van Beethtoven

Cinematography by: Alfred Gilks

Synopsis: When a nation wide search for a new "Dancing Co-Ed" begins, things aren't as they appear.

My Review: Historically significant if only for the only screen appearance of Lana and her first husband, bandleader Artie Shaw, 1939's Dancing Co-Ed is the perfect way to spend a lazy Saturday afternoon. Lana stars as Patty Marlow, a dancer who is sent to a university to participate in a bogus dance competition, only to encounter suspicion from one of the co-eds. When she and he begin a relationship complications arise.

When viewing films such as this and 1943's Slightly Dangerous, one wonders what direction Lana's career would have taken had MGM decided to make her into a light comedienne instead of a glamour girl. Not that we don't love the sight of Lana in gowns and furs, but her timing here is impeccable and she completely overpowers a very wooden Anne Rutherford and Richard Carlson. She also does a few intricate dance numbers (including a little soft-shoe tap) that are not to be missed. For the next two years until she triumphed in 1941's Ziegfeld Girl, MGM would place her in one light comedy after another. The studio would often misuse her talents in order to make a profit off of the "Lana Turner" formula.

Your Review: What are YOUR thoughts on this film? Contact me at Liza@lanaturneronline.com

Reviewed by Taylor C. Dowling on February 17, 2005.

I really enjoyed this film. It's a lot of fun and Lana does a great 
job, especially when she's dancing. Sometimes, I wonder how come MGM didn't 
put her in musical films.

Highlights and Trivia

*Lana's fifth husband (though not at the time!!) Fred May and actress Veronica Lake were both cast as extras in this film. (Thanks Melly for the Lake info!)

*Released under the title Every Other Inch the Lady in Great Britain.

*Lana's father, a sometime tap dancer, taught Lana how to tap dance at aged three, for a show at the Wallace, Idaho Elks Club.

*Lana and her co-star, bandleader Artie Shaw, were married not long after this film was released. Shaw was the only Turner husband that ever appeared with her on film.

 

Photo Gallery   

Ingenue Lana shows off her famous gams in 1939's "Dancing Co-Ed". Lou Valentino Collection    Lana sports polka dots in 1939's "Dancing Co-Ed".    Lana gets her very first "Lana Turner" chair on the set of "Dancing Co-Ed" in 1939.    Lana posing for Artie Shaw in 1939's "Dancing Co-Ed".    Lana performs a one-woman show for her first husband, Artie Shaw in a scene from 1939's "Dancing Co-Ed".    A lobby card for 1939's "Dancing Co-Ed".   

 

 

 

 

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