There are some films that are just difficult to watch. Everybody has their Achilles heel when it comes to what affects them and what doesn’t. I’m fine with watching just about anything, but, boy, those damn Pixar films sure know how to get me. Every. Single. Time. I was a total emotional wreck at the beginning of Up. I mean, full-on sobs racked my body and I still had to sit there for almost another hour and a half! Then there are films like my choice for our Different Kind of Love series, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, that depict just how far humans are willing to push themselves for a prize beyond their reach. So much so, it becomes an exercise in brutality.

Sydney Pollack’s film, based on the Horace McCoy novel of the same name from 1935, is ultimately a film about survival. In the midst of the depression, some people were willing to do just about anything to make a dollar. Naturally, other people were willing to exploit this fact in order to make money themselves and, at the same time, entertain the masses. A dance contest on a pier in Southern California is our setting. The prize for winning this contest is $1,500. It’s a lot of money in a time when jobs are scarce and prospects worse. The contest draws over a hundred couples. Some might be there for a lark while others are there because this prize money means a new life for them.

Robert (Michael Sarrazin) just happens to be wandering around the pier when he notices couples signing up for a dance contest. He has no intention of entering; he’s just watching the proceedings. There are couples of all type lined up who, unbeknownst to them, are cattle to the slaughter. They are being inspected by a team selecting the best people for the show. The inspectors get rid of those they feel aren’t healthy enough to last. They are also selecting people based on other criteria; like having a good story to tell. The organizer and emcee of this contest is Rocky (Gig Young, in an Oscar-winning turn) and he is choosing the contestants like he’s choosing a piece of meat; only the best to display to the audience he is hoping will show up in droves.

While Robert watches, we meet several couples including the very pregnant Ruby (Bonnie Bedelia) and her farmer husband, Joel (Bruce Dern), the out-of-work actors (Susannah York and Robert Fields), and the aging sailor (Red Buttons) and his partner Shirl. We also meet Gloria (Jane Fonda). Her partner is deemed a bad medical risk and is not allowed to participate. Where is she going to find another partner in the next five minutes? Rocky sees Robert skulking over by the door and suggests he join up with her.