Years later, in 1932 during the Great Depression, he wanders into a dance marathon about to begin in the shabby La Monica Ballroom, perched over the Pacific Ocean on the Santa Monica Pier in Southern California. In his youth, he saw a horse break its leg, after which it was shot and put out of its misery. Robert Syverton, who had once dreamed of becoming a great film director, recalls the events leading to an unstated crime. As of 2021, it holds the record for most Oscar nominations without one for Best Picture. It received nine nominations at the 42nd Academy Awards including Best Director, Best Actress (for Fonda), Best Supporting Actress (for York), Best Adapted Screenplay, with Young winning for Best Supporting Actor. Reviewers praised its direction, screenplay, depiction of the depression era, and performances (especially of Fonda, York and Young). The film became a critical and commercial success, grossing $12.6 million on a budget of $4.86 million, becoming the seventeenth highest-grossing film of 1969. They Shoot Horses, Don't They? was released theatrically in the United States on December 10, 1969, and also premiered at the 1970 Cannes Film Festival. The film focuses on a disparate group of individuals desperate to win a Depression-era dance marathon and an opportunistic emcee who urges them on. It stars Jane Fonda, Michael Sarrazin, Susannah York, Red Buttons, Bruce Dern, Bonnie Bedelia and Gig Young. Thompson and James Poe, based on Horace McCoy's 1935 novel of the same name.
They Shoot Horses, Don't They? is a 1969 American psychological drama film directed by Sydney Pollack, from a screenplay written by Robert E.