They Shoot Horses Don’t They?

Los Angeles, 1935. With nowhere to go and nothing to lose, Robert and Gloria enter a marathon dance on the Santa Monica pier, one of hundreds of couples competing to stay on their feet for weeks at a time for a prize of a thousand dollars. As the days blur into nights and the competition grows merciless, their unlikely bond deepens into something neither of them can name, and a reckoning neither can avoid.

George MacKay (1917, Rose of Nevada) stars as Robert alongside Leah Brotherhead (Hullraisers, RSC's Wolf Hall) as Gloria.

Horace McCoy's 1935 novel is one of the founding texts of American noir, previously adapted as Sydney Pollack's acclaimed 1969 film with Jane Fonda. This is its first ever audio adaptation, brought to radio by adaptor Kerry Shale.

Story of America is a major collection of dramatisations of milestone American titles marking 250 years since the Declaration of Independence and the foundation of the United States.

Robert . . . . . George MacKay Gloria . . . . . Leah Brotherhead Rocky . . . . . Kerry Shale Mrs Layden . . . . . Laurel Lefkow Pedro . . . . . Joseph Balderama Rollo . . . . . Ben Crowe Jim . . . . . David Menkin Ruby . . . . . Laura Dos Santos

Adapted by Kerry Shale.

Production co-ordinators: Sara Benaim, Jonathan Powell Technical producers: Keith Graham, Neva Missirian, Kira Golightly Sound design: Sharon Hughes Director: Sasha Yevtushenko

A BBC Studios production.