Louis Hayward

Dance, Girl, Dance (1940) starring Lucille Ball, Maureen O’Hara

Dance, Girl, Dance is the story of hard-working ballet dancer Judy O’Brien (Maureen O’Hara). She and her street-wise gal-pal Bubbles (Lucille Ball) work as members of a small-time dance troupe operated by Madame Basilova (Maria Ouspenskaya). The story begins with their dance troupe performing in a seedy nightclub in Akron, Ohio.  A rich young man named Jimmy Harris (Louis Hayward) is there drowning his sorrows — his marriage is falling apart. No sooner do the dancers finish their number when the place is raided by the police for illegal gambling. Jimmy makes eyes at Judy — which irritates Bubbles, since she’s always the first to get a man’s attention. Since Judy reminds him of his wife, however, he goes off with Bubbles. This leaves Judy behind to focus on her true love – ballet dancing.