User reviews

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.

This film is about two professional gold diggers - Marie has her heart in her work (Lilyan Tashman), Wanda doesn't (Kay Francis). The two women are paid handsomely to entertain men who are in town to do business with their employer and to soften them up so they are more receptive to striking deals with that employer. This film has more introspection than many precodes, possibly due to the presence of George Cukor as director. He really did a great job in "women's films" such as these. At any rate, Wanda is on the lookout for the love of her life and most improbably finds him during one of her "assignments" - Lansing businessman Jim Baker (Joel McCrea). However, she can't marry him until she obtains a divorce from her long estranged and lazy husband (Anderson Lawler). With experience in marriage to such a shady predatory character, you'd wonder why she would want to give matrimony another try.

Kay Francis has made many such films - the good girl in bad girl's clothing - but few films remain that show Lilyan Tashman and what she could do with a meaty precode role. This is one of them. As Marie she manages to look out for herself, be charitable to a friend in need, and even help the wife of a stingy client reunite with her husband (Eugene Palette). The two women even turn out to be great friends, trading fashion tips of all things. As always with Lilyan, there are the wonderfully delivered catty remarks. Sadly she died in 1934 of cancer at the age of only 37. Check this one out to see one of the biggest names in precode film in a pretty good movie (Kay Francis), and one star that did not shine quite so brightly, but added spice to any role she was given (Lilyan Tashman).

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.

"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

"Girls About Town" from 1931 is a pre-code starring Kay Francis, Lilyan Tashman, Joel McCrea, and Eugene Palette.

Pre-codes are fun because you don't know how they're going to end - once the code came in, if you were a woman and committed adultery, you died; if you were a tramp, you died. If you had a career, you gave it up because your life was empty without a man.

In this film, Francis and Tashman are Wanda and Marie who make their living as escorts for rich men. So they spend their time on yachts, they wear furs and jewels, and we assume they sleep with these guys. That's implied but when the men want to go up to the girls' apartment, their maid (Louise Beavers) sits in the window so the girls can say, "That's mother. She's waited up for me. You'd better not come up" or words to that effect.

The women are paired with the very wealthy Benjamin (Palette) and the young, handsome assistant (McCrea). Wanda is very attracted to Jim (McCrea) but stuck with Benjamin; Tashman finds Jim a miserable bore. So they switch, and Jim and Wanda fall in love.

Benji meanwhile, for all his big bucks, turns out to be a tightwad. Later Tashman enlists some help to get him to part with what's in his wallet.

Fast-moving film with delightful acting, particularly from Tashman, who is a riot. Gorgeous clothes, too. Louise Beavers has a great turn as the maid - she's devoted to the two women and has no problem telling Wanda off. But when there's a guest in the house she acts like a real subservient maid. Very funny.

Highly recommended. A lively movie.

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.

'Girls About Town' is a fascinating example of the winking immorality that prevailed in Hollywood in the early 1930s, causing the public uproar that led to the Production Code.

Lilyan Tashman and Kay Francis play a couple of ... well, it's not quite clear how these ladies earn a living, as they sleep until 5.30pm (Lilyan sleeps in her makeup) and then they spend all night at parties with wealthy businessmen. They live in a penthouse and wear $4,000 fur stoles in 1931. (Depression? What Depression?) Kay Francis's character is named Wanda, but Lilyan keeps calling her 'Matilda' and 'Annabelle' and other such names.

Now get this. Wanda is a good-time girl who doesn't WANT to be a good-time girl. She'd trade it all for a white picket fence and a husband. Actually, she's already got a husband (played by Anderson Lawler), but she'd rather have a husband who looks like Joel McCrea. That decision is the only thing in this movie that's remotely believable. When I saw Louise Beavers's name in the cast list, I expected her to be lumbered with her usual typecast role as the chucklin' black maid. Well, she DOES play the maid ... but this time Beavers gets to do an amusing visual gag, impersonating Whistler's Mother. And she has a clever line: 'There comes a time in every woman's life when a man needs five dollars.'

This film is directed by George Cukor, not usually thought of as a Paramount director. The opening credit sequence is very impressive, and there are some good montages. I wish they'd left out the tight close-up of Eugene Palllette's puckered lips. At the climax, there are some very effective jump cuts to several pieces of jewellery worn by Lucile Gleason ... in fact, this is the only time I've ever seen an impressive performance from James Gleason's wife.

Lilyan Tashman does a bad job of singing 'Ben Bolt' while slinging wisecracks. I dislike her outright. My feelings towards Kay Francis are more ambiguous. In real life, Kay Francis was well-liked in the film industry and active in charity work. So, I respect her as a person but I dislike her as an actress. She studied diction under Elmer Fudd. She apparently orders her mascara by the tankload (because that's how she wears it), and she keeps doing this weird gesture where she pronates her right hand while she places it way up high on her hip. I liked this movie, but I would have liked it better with two other actresses.

One of my favourite character actors, Alan Dinehart, is wasted here. It's not precisely clear what his character does for a living, but he seems to be the (erm, ah, well) 'agent' for the party girls. Much of the action takes place aboard a yacht, presumably anchored outside the three-mile limit where Prohibition had no jurisdiction. I was impressed by a travelling shot of McCrea swimming, with the camera just above water level, yet with no water splashing on the lens to remind us of the camera's presence. Much of the dialogue is by Raymond Griffith, a silent-film comedian who later became a successful producer at Fox.

With all the clothes and jewellery and booze on display here, I'm sure a lot of movie-goers in 1931 watched this film with their tongues hanging out. I'll rate this movie 7 out of 10.

"Girls About Town" is a pre-code film with sensibilities that simply would not have been allowed once the toughened Production Code was enacted in mid- 1934. This is because although the film never said so in so many words, the picture is about some women of rather easy virtue who make a living off men. Wanda (Kay Francis) and Marie (Lilyan Tashman) are professional escorts who are often hired to hang out with old men and flatter them while the group is out on business dinners. It never exactly says it in the film, but most adults watching the film most likely assume that the ladies got all their furs, jewels, maid and other luxuries by sleeping with the men.

This film finds the girls paired up with a couple rich guys, Jim (Joel McCrea) and Benjamin (Eugene Palette). However, a couple odd things happen--Jim falls for Wanda and Benji turns out to be total cheapskate and Marie has to work very, very hard to get Benji to buy her anything. However, in a funny twist, Marie and Benji's wife work together--to get him to stop being so stingy. So what's to become of all this? Well, see the film and find out for yourself. It's well worth it, as the script is pleasant and fun. In particular, it's quite fun seeing Benji get his comeuppance!

The visiting businessmen were paying $500 for a night of pleasure with Kay Francis' character - that's $10,00 today. Whilst in reality she was apparently quite the girl in her day, if she was anything like as plastic as she was in this hugely underwhelming movie, I'd want my money back.

If you're expecting a similar film to the other hit Zoë Akins wrote, THE GREEKS HAD A WORD FOR THEM (remade 20 years later as HOW TO MARRY A MILLIONAIRE) you'll be sorely disappointed. This has similar themes: rich men are idiots, women do what they do to survive, but as a piece of cinema it feels false, forced and tiresome.

The trouble is we've all seen these roles played brilliantly with wit, charm, humour and credibility by Joan Blondell, Glenda Farrell so these two seem like imposters. Miss Tashman isn't too bad but she's no Joan Blondell. Kay Francis however is bad, really bad. She wasn't an actress with the greatest range and comedy was definitely not something she could do

Despite George Cukor's dynamic direction and some great photography by Ernest Heller, who did some of the all time greats such as GONE WITH THE WIND, what lets this down is the characters just aren't likeable. The men in this are secondary and the writing of their characters didn't seem to be finished so you can forget about them. There's only two people that seem to be doing any acting but unfortunately they're Kay Francis and Lilyan Tashman: they're just not convincing.

As you often find with Paramount pre-code films, they're often oblivious to the troubles of the age. The Depression and life choices available to young women back then are glossed over so why these girls do what they do and why they're the way they are isn't explained. You can't care about people like this whom you don't believe in. If this had been a Warner or even Columbia picture or had a grittier director it could have been something more than just another 'also ran' ....especially if they'd lured Miss Blondell over!

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.

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.

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!

What a delightful film!! If you enjoy witty wise crackin' dialogue and a film that is fun and light with a heart, then this is the one for you!

Lilyan Tashman almost steals the show from under Kay Francis as the two of them "entertain" men to help seal business deals for their "employer". They work as a team and get sent out on dates with some very funny encounters. The joy of the film is that they stay one step ahead of all the men and all the tricks that they try to play on the girls.

Kay Francis meets her match, however, when she gets assigned to Joel McCrea. They make a perfect pair as she finds herself falling for his handsome face and charming personality. Meanwhile, Tashman gets "stuck" with Eugene Pallette, a grumpy cheap curmudgeon who loves practical jokes. Pallette's wife turns up and Tashman realizes that his wife is still in love with Pallette and she helps his wife get him back.

In the meantime, McCrea proposes marriage to Francis. But it turns out, she is already married. Her ex-husband comes on the scene and extorts McCrea for money. McCrea thinks Francis is in on the extortion so she is determined to raise the money and pay it all back. Francis and Tashman hold an auction in their apartment to sell their furs and jewels. It is sad to see their faces as they watch all their "treasures" be sold off, but they also have some very funny bits as they work to raise the bids up.

I thoroughly enjoyed watching this. I had a smile on my face throughout and there were moments when I laughed right out loud. For a film to make me laugh, that is a good piece of work!

So if you are in for the night or afternoon, watch this little treasure!! Let these girls take you out and about town on their adventures. You will be glad you did and have a fun time doing it!

Make a classy night of it! Go out and about town with the girls!

Let me do a quick tally of Kay Francis's roles I've seen:

Kay Francis the adulteress in "Scandal Sheet"

Kay Francis the adulteress in "Transgression"

Kay Francis the side chick in "Guilty Hands"

Kay Francis the side side-chick in "Ladies' Man"

I'm sure you can see a pattern here. In "Girls About Town" Kay Francis plays Wanda, an escort who falls in love with one of her clients. It's not quite as lascivious as her other roles, but yet again her role depends upon her being in love with a man.

OK, I'm being a bit unfair. Just about every female role, for decades, depending upon them being in love with a man. Kay wasn't singled out for that. But she was singled out for being the unfaithful or shameless woman.

In "Girls About Town" her character was the more principled of the two leading women. Her roommate and coworker so-to-speak, Marie Bailey (Lilyan Tashman), was an escort who only cared about getting paid while Wanda tired of entertaining crusty old men for money--even if it was good money. Marie was proud of her gold digger title while Wanda wanted to do something more genuine and personally rewarding than pretending to like wealthy men.

When Wanda was ready to call it quits Marie begged her to do one more gig with her. Wanda reluctantly agreed to be a geisha on a yacht for Benjamin Thomas (Eugene Pallette) and his associate Jim Baker (Joel McCrea). Wanda and Jim fell in love on the yacht even though they had to navigate around whether each one was playing a role or being for real.

I'm not a Kay Francis fan in the least. It would be easy to say she's been a sleaze too many times, but I generally am not impressed with her acting. Too often she has a dopey look on her face that's supposed to be wistful or introspective. It was especially prominent in the movie "Transgression." Lilyan Tashman, however, is always entertaining. She played a similar role in "Millie" and really livened up that movie. She sort of reminded me of Judith Wood, a contemporary of hers.

In the end "Girls About Town" was a romcom that wasn't funny nor was it terribly romantic.

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No one says it in the picture and it's not in anyone's review, but aren't the girls in the title hookers? Thought so. Of course, this is a pre-code film and I guess it was acceptable to depict them rather than actually come out and declare same. I wasn't alive in the 30's, but that's how I read it.

That said, "Girls About Town" is a very funny picture with a good script and an even better cast. Kay Francis is one of my favorites, very feminine and demure, even as a, well, I already covered that. She was ably assisted by Lilyan Tashman, a comedienne who had a tragically short career in movies. Lots of energy and not bad looking. Joel McCrea is window dressing as he sleepwalks through his part but Eugene Palette holds up the male side of the fun. Louise Beavers is on hand with a bigger role than she is usually given. Tough luck for her she was a black in Hollywood in the 30's.

The picture gets a little far afield towards the end. I always get the impression writers come up with a clever idea for a story but often can't figure out how to end it and go for a predictable lameness, Exhibit A being "Harvey". But in my book "Girls About Town" had already earned its spurs, to mix a metaphor.