They Shoot Horses, Don't They? directed by Sydney Pollack.
set during the great depression and centers around a group of monetarily-jinxed people who enter a dance marathon with the premise of "the last person to stop dancing wins $1,500." the whole thing is based on a book from 1935 that i haven't read, and predates and predicts western-society's obsession with reality television & gameshows; highlighting the exploitative life-sucking nature of it all.
