Dancing Mothers

The film tells the story of a pretty mother, who was almost cheated out of life by a heartless husband and a thoughtless daughter.[1]

• Alice Joyce as Ethel "Buddy" Westcourt (played by Mary Young in play)
• Norman Trevor as Hugh Westcourt (played by Henry Stephenson in play)
• Clara Bow as Catherine "Kittens" Westcourt (played by Helen Hayes in play)
• Conway Tearle as Gerald "Jerry" Naughton (played by John Halliday in play)
• Eleanor Lawson as Irma (played also by Lawson in play; under the name Elsie Lawson)
• Dorothy Cumming as Mrs. Mazzarene
• Donald Keith as Kenneth Cobb
• Leila Hyams as Birdey Courtney
• Spencer Charters as Butter and Egg Man

The film was adapted from a successful Broadway stage play by Edgar Selwyn and Edmund Goulding, and Paramount reportedly bought the rights for $45,000. On Broadway the principal parts had been played by Helen Hayes as the daughter, John Halliday as the father, and Mary Young as the mother. Shooting began at Paramount's Astoria Studio in November 1925, after actress Betty Bronson, the star of Peter Pan (1924), was cast for the role of Katherine "Kittens" Westcourt by the studio, but was rejected after director Herbert Brennon reported to studio executives that "when she tried to be sexy, she looked like a little girl who wanted to go to the bathroom." After production ended in December 1925, Brennon reported to Paramount's top officials that Clara was not only very talented as an actress, but that she took direction very well.

• "A splendid picture containing mother appeal, flapper appeal and well balanced with comedy and a climax that's different, since 'they don't live happy ever after'".[2]
• "...it is an effective drama, well acted and Clara Bow is a real little modern."[3]
• "It is a picture that strikes home to the adult mind and is a tremendous indictment to every age."[4]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Dancing Mothers.

• Dancing Mothers at IMDb
• Synopsis at AllMovie
• Lobby poster