''Girls About Town'' is a 1931 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

romantic comedy film directed by

George Cukor George Dewey Cukor (; July 7, 1899 – January 24, 1983) was an American film director and film producer. He mainly concentrated on comedies and literary adaptations. His career flourished at RKO when David O. Selznick, the studio's Head ...

and starring Kay Francis and

Joel McCrea Joel Albert McCrea (November 5, 1905 – October 20, 1990) was an American actor whose career spanned a wide variety of genres over almost five decades, including comedy, drama, romance, thrillers, adventures, and Westerns, for which he bec ...

Plot

Wanda Howard ( Kay Francis) and Marie Bailey ( Lilyan Tashman) go out with two balding, middle-aged businessmen from out of town (for $500 apiece) to help Jerry Chase (

Alan Dinehart Mason Alan Dinehart Sr. (born Harold Alan Dinehart; October 3, 1889 – July 18, 1944) was an American actor, director, writer, and stage manager. Biography Dinehart initially studied to be a priest, but he turned to the theater instead. ...

) close a sale. However, the women, who share a luxurious suite in an apartment building, have their African-American maid Hattie (

Louise Beavers Louise Beavers (March 8, 1902 – October 26, 1962) was an American film and television actress. From the 1920s until 1960, she appeared in dozens of films and two hit television shows. She was most often cast in the roles of a maid, servant ...

) disguise herself as their mother, waiting at the window, to avoid having to invite the men inside. Wanda is getting tired of how she makes a living, but she and Marie go aboard a yacht the next night to divert rich practical joker Benjamin Thomas (

Eugene Pallette Eugene William Pallette (July 8, 1889 – September 3, 1954) was an American actor who worked in both the silent and sound eras, performing in more than 240 productions between 1913 and 1946. After an early career as a slender leading man, ...

) and his handsome business associate Jim Baker (

). Jim knows that the women are paid "entertainment", but quickly finds himself falling for Wanda anyway, and vice versa. (When Jerry pays her for her efforts, Wanda tears up the check.) Once Jim realizes she genuinely loves him, he asks her to marry him. Although she is initially reluctant, she agrees. However, she informs Jim that there is one complication: her estranged husband Alex ( Anderson Lawler). She asks him for a divorce, and he agrees. Meanwhile, Benjamin's wife, who is divorcing him because of his stinginess, shows up and asks Marie to stop making a fool of him. Marie realizes that Mrs. Thomas ( Lucille Gleason) is still in love with her husband, and comes up with a plan to cure him of his tightfisted ways. The next day, Marie steers Benjamin to the jewelry store where Mrs Thomas is waiting. Mrs Thomas, pretending not to see him, complains (in a loud voice) how cheap her husband is. Benjamin becomes so angry he buys Marie some expensive merchandise for about $50,000. That night, Alex crashes the birthday party Marie has arranged for Benjamin. He tells Jim that he wants $10,000 or he will name Jim as the co-respondent in the divorce. Alex insinuates that Wanda is part of the blackmail scheme. Believing the lie, Jim breaks up with Wanda. Wanda visits Alex in Brooklyn and demands he give the money back. He introduces her (as "cousin Wanda") to the ailing Mrs. Howard and their baby, the reasons he needs the money so desperately. He confesses that he got a divorce in Mexico 2 years before, and promises to pay her back once he is back on his feet financially. Touched, Wanda leaves without the check. Wanda decides to auction off enough of her possessions to her friends to raise $10,000 and pay Jim back. She also asks Marie to return her jewelry. Wanda gives Jim the proceeds; even before that, however, he has come to his senses, and the couple reconcile. Marie gives Benjamin's gifts to his wife and reunites that couple.

Cast

* Kay Francis as Wanda Howard *

as Jim Baker * Lilyan Tashman as Marie Bailey *

as Benjamin Thomas *

as Jerry Chase * Lucille Webster Gleason as Mrs Benjamin Thomas *Anderson Lawler as Alex Howard *

Lucile Browne Lucile Ruth Browne (March 18, 1907 – May 10, 1976) was an American film actress. She starred opposite John Wayne in the 1935 films '' Texas Terror'' and '' Rainbow Valley''. Personal life The daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Harris L. Browne, s ...

as Edna * George Barbier as Webster * Robert McWade as Simms *

as Hattie Uncredited: * Adrienne Ames as Anne *

Frances Bavier Frances Elizabeth Bavier (December 14, 1902 – December 6, 1989) was an American stage and television actress. Originally from New York theatre, she worked in film and television from the 1950s until the 1970s. She is best known for her role o ...

as Joy *

Claire Dodd Claire Dodd (born Dorothy Arlene Dodd; December 29, 1911 – November 23, 1973) was an American film actress. Life and work Dorothy Arlene Dodd was born on December 29, 1911, in Baxter, Iowa, to Walter Willard Dodd, a farmer whose family ...

as Dot *

Judith Wood Judith Wood (born Helen Johnson, August 1, 1906 – April 6, 2002) was an American film actress. Early years The daughter of cartoonist Merle Johnson, she was born in New York City. Wood moved to Hollywood, California to pursue an acting car ...

as Winnie

Reception

Mordaunt Hall Mordaunt Hall (1 November 1878 – 2 July 1973) was the first regularly assigned motion picture critic for ''The New York Times'', working from October 1924 to September 1934.The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' film critic, gave ''Girls About Town'' a qualified favorable review, writing, "This handsomely staged and ably directed production is one that affords no little laughter, but unfortunately it is burdened in the latter stages by highly improbable serious sequences."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Girls About Town 1931 films 1931 romantic comedy films 1930s English-language films American black-and-white films American romantic comedy films Films directed by George Cukor Paramount Pictures films 1930s American films

Plot

Cast

Reception

See also

References

External links