debut "Bolero", World War I breaks out and the audience are talking about it instead of paying attention to the dance. Raoul breaks off mid performance, and makes a patriotic speech, promising to not dance until the war is over. Helen is touched by Raoul's patriotism. However, when she finds out he just did it for publicity, to hold his own, in the limelight, during the major historic moment, she breaks up with him and goes to work as a nurse, and marries Coray. Raoul and Mike serve in the army during the war and Raoul is wounded. On Armistice Day, a doctor tells him if he ever exerts himself again, he may die. After the war he tries to find Helen and restart his dancing career. He cannot find her but he runs into Annette, and they team up again. Helen is glad that Raoul is dancing again, but she is very happy with Lord Robert Coray. Raoul re-opens his smart nightclub in Paris featuring the famous "Bolero" dance performance. On the opening night, as he is about to start the show, he finds Annette drunk and unable to perform. Fortunately, Helen is in the audience and agrees to stand in. Raoul hopes that she will rejoin him. They dance, perfectly, the passionate and elegant "Bolero", with some very athletic demands, to thunderous applause, though Helen and Mike see that Raoul is experiencing some serious physical stress moments. The reunited pair are a success! Offstage, afterward, the applause does not end and the audience demands an encore. Mike and Helen say "NO encore – too much for Raoul" – but Raoul disagrees and insists they do the encore! Triumphant moments must not be let down! Raoul gets Helen to agree to the encore, though she tells him it's her last and they must be wise and let it go. She is happy with her present life with Corday. Raoul does not hear her words from the next room, because, basking in the glow of his goals won, and aiming at more to come, Raoul collapses and dies before he can get back onstage. Helen and Mike find him, smiling with satisfaction, but dead of heart failure. Cast George Raft as Raoul De Baere Carole Lombard as Helen Hathaway Sally Rand as Annette Ray Milland as Lord Robert Coray Frances Drake as Leona William Frawley as Mike DeBaere (Raoul's brother)