Before he went underworld, George Raft was a professional dancer, appearing in nightclubs all over Europe. In these Thirties Paramount productions, Raft is highlighted as a graceful dancer, with Carole Lombard for a partner and fantastically lighted sets for a stage. But in all other ways, his character has already hard-boiled into the ruthless, nasty image evidently inspired by his mug. ("I would have loved to have done the part of a priest," Raft has said. "I always thought I could do it; but they tell me I never looked like one.") In Bolero, Raft plays Raoul De Baere, the man with the flair, who works his way up from honky-tonker to honcho using his partners and admirers as stepping stones to his final goal: opening night at his own Paris nightclub, where he presents his original arrangement of the "Bolero." (J.B.)