They Shoot Horses, Don't They? (1969)
Directed by Sydney Pollack
In the midst of the Great Depression, manipulative emcee Rocky enlists contestants for a dance marathon offering a $1,500 cash prize. Among them are a failed actress, a middle-aged sailor, a delusional blonde and a pregnant girl.
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What critics compared They Shoot Horses, Don't They? to
“They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?” for Gen Z — texts that traffic in the extreme outcomes of American capitalism…
The high concept suggests the gruelling dance marathons of the Depression that provided the inspiration for Sydney Pollack’s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?
…closest in misanthropic spirit to Sydney Pollack’s shocking 1969 “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?,” with cinematographer Jo Willems applying a similar dustbowl aesthetic…
It’s like They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? on steroids.
If Stand By Me suggests lost innocence, then a truer cinematic companion is Sydney Pollack’s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969). Both films fixate on endurance and the spectacle of despair.
“Man 1” was preceded thematically by “Network” and “They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?”