They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1970, USA)

Aichi Insurance Physicians’ Newspaper

In 1932, during the Great Depression, even Hollywood was overflowing with the unemployed. They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? portrays young people whose futures had been stolen. One of them, Robert, drifts into a marathon dance hall on a certain street. A marathon dance is a spectacle in which contestants dance continuously, day and night, with prize money awarded to the last couple standing. The promoter, Rocky, is recruiting participants.

Among them are a sailor and Alice, a pregnant woman named Ruby, and Gloria (Jane Fonda). Gloria is in trouble because her partner has fallen ill. Rocky pairs her with Robert, and the dance begins. As Gloria and Robert continue dancing, they gradually open up to each other. The dance goes on for several days, with an increasing number of dropouts.

To entertain the spectators, a “Derby Race” is introduced—a contest of endurance among four couples, with only one pair emerging as the winner. Robert and Gloria take part, but Robert eventually suffers a muscle cramp and can no longer dance. Gloria, desperate not to let their hardship be in vain, drags him and continues dancing, but Robert collapses.

Later, the sailor dancing with Alice suffers a heart attack during the Derby. Reunited, Robert and Gloria are urged by Rocky to perform a mock wedding as part of the entertainment, but they realize they are being exploited—the cost of the ceremony would be charged to them. Learning that even winning the contest wouldn’t earn them any real money, Gloria becomes furious and leaves.

Utterly hopeless, Gloria pleads with Robert to shoot her in the head. After doing so, he tells the approaching police officer, “They shoot horses, don’t they?”—a bitter expression of the era’s “American reality,” where no matter how hard one tries, effort goes unrewarded.