Girls About Town

Moviecut—Girls About Town

The first half is lively, pre-code stuff, and George Cukor's direction is quite accomplished for an early talkie (the swimming scenes are impressive). In the second half, the script becomes predictable and moralistic and runs completely out of gas. Kay Francis and Lilyan Tashman make a good team. ** out of 4.

We follow a couple of girls - Kay Francis (Wanda) and Lilyan Tashman (Marie) - as they are given different escort assignments by their agent Alan Dinehart (Jerry). They work as a pair and share an apartment obviously paid for by the wealthy clients who have made payment to them. You get what I'm saying? Things change for one of them when assigned as escorts onto a boat containing wealthy Eugene Pallette (Benji) and Joel McCrea (Jim). The film is a comedy and the lead women are good in their roles. Pallette is sometimes inaudible and incomprehensible with that peculiar squawking he does, whilst McCrea is there for eye candy. There are a couple of side plots going on and all-in-all it is an enjoyable film.

This one remains a favorite pre-Code with Kay Francis and Lilyan Tashman playing a couple of party girls who work with Alan Dinehart to bilk the out-of-town rubes who come to New York City for a good time. Lots of zippy one-liners as the "girls" parade around in plunging gowns and dripping with jewels. After they ditch the boys from Des Moines (George Barbier, Robert McWade) they go on a yachting party and get involved with Joel McCrea and Eugene Pallette from Lansing. While Kay falls for McCrea, Lilyan tangles with Eugene and his wife (Lucile Gleason) to wrest some needed jewelry from cheapo Eugene. Great fun. The film takes a dramatic turn toward the end when Kay's discarded husband (Anderson Lawler) shows up on the mooch. Louise Beavers has a funny role as the girls' maid and Frances Bavier appears as one of the party girls. Not to be missed!

It's a Paramount Pre-Code starring Kay Francis and Lilyan Tashman as a couple of party girls. Their marks are Joel McCrea and Eugene Pallette as a couple of rich Michiganders. With direction by George Cukor and script by Zoe Akins and Raymond Griffith, it starts out as meaningless and evolves into a nice, sympathetic character study. With Louise Beavers as the girl's maid, there's also a nice small role for Lucille Gleason.

"Girls About Town" remains one of my top 10 favorite movies. The movie is about 2 gold-diggers who "entertain" men for, well, "gold", so to speak, and it is fast-paced, daringly risque, and funny. Kay Francis, one of the great dramatic actresses, handles her part of a lovestruck woman beautifully, while Lilyan Tashman wonderfully takes over the comedic, wisecracking lines and, IMHO, is Lilyan's greatest performance. I saw this film at the Film Forum this summer, and it was a big hit with the audience. I would love to see it again, if anyone knows where I could obtain a copy, please contact me

The "girls" of the title are Kay Francis and Lilyan Tashman, and the town is New York. This dynamic duo in silk and ermine entertain hick businessmen looking for a good time while in Manhattan. Francis, as one would expect, handles the melodrama deftly, while Tashman steals the show with her sharp delivery of the tart dialogue. As with most films made before the hammer of censorship came down in 1933, there are some real risque jolts in the both dialogue and action. Well worth tracking down.

Lilyan Tashman could sit and read the telephone book and make it funny. Someone needs to give this woman, and her tragically short career, a retrospective. This time she's got a sumptuous Paramount production, George Cukor at the wheel, everyone's favorite clotheshorse Kay Francis as co-star. Not enough? How about the great black actress Louise Beavers, whose entrance in the film is a scream (I'll say no more, lest I ruin it). It's a witty piece of art deco comedy, with Tashman and Francis as ermine-caped gold diggers, and Eugene Palette (not quite yet obese) and handsome Joel McCrea as the latest targets. Like so many Paramount films of the early 30s, its still fresh and contemporary, thanks to its grown up, pre-Code script. And those opening credits--couples dancing over the new york skyline--just icing on the cake. Don't miss this.