Times Square Playboy

This was the second filming of George M. Cohan's 1926 comedy about Warren William inviting his long-time friend, Gene Lockhart, to be best man at his wedding. Lockhart perceives that his fiancée, June Travis, and her family are gold diggers taking William for a ride, so he proceeds to wreck the relationship. Gene Lockhart has the best role, the best lines and the best performance. The only trouble with the movie is that it takes too long for William to set Lockhart straight. It would have been a better movie if William tried more forcefully at first but failed because Lockhart constantly interrupted him. As it is, there are enough pauses to make me think he didn't try just to extend the running time, which is a short 62 minutes anyway. It's clearly director William McGann's fault. But Lockhart is great as the supreme conclusion jumper and buttinsky, and this movie is still much better than the 1940 remake. I'd love to see the first 1928 version, also a talkie.

You might notice a credit error: Craig Reynolds is credited onscreen with the character name of Joe Reynolds, but he is called Joe Roberts throughout the movie.