Party Girl (1930)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Victor Halperin

Writers:

Edwin Balmer (story)
George Draney (scenario) ...

Release Date:

1 January 1930 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

The shocking story of love for sale!

Plot:

Jay Rountree, son of a wealthy manufacturer and young, rising businessman, gets caught up in a web involving...

Plot Keywords:

Party | Party Girl | Wealthy | Escort Girl | Manufacturer

Cast

Douglas Fairbanks Jr.	...	Jay Rountree
Jeanette Loff	...	Ellen Powell
Judith Barrie	...	Leeda Cather
Marie Prevost	...	Diana Hoster
John St. Polis	...	John Rountree
Sammy Blum	...	Sam Metten
Harry Northrup	...	Robert Lowry
Almeda Fowler	...	Maude Lindsay
Hal Price	...	Lew Albans
Charles Giblyn	...	Lawrence Doyle
Sidney D'Albrook	...	Investigator
Lucien Prival	...	Paul Newcast
Florence Dudley	...	Miss Manning
Earl Burtnett	...	Orchestra Leader (as Earl Burtnett and His Biltmore Orchestra and Trio)

Also Known As:

Dangerous Business

Runtime:

67 min | USA:61 min (re-release)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Photophone System)

Certification:

UK:PG (DVD rating) (2003) | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Victor Halperin Productions

Trivia:

The film holds the record for the longest transfer from banned status to original release in UK history. It was rejected for cinema in 1930 by the BBFC and remained unreleased until 2003 when it was passed with a PG rating.

Quotes:

Ellen Powell: He's been tricked!
Diana Hoster: Tricked my ankle.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Hollywood Uncensored (1987)

Soundtrack:

Farewell

Dreadful, but not dreadful enough to be delicious

Douglas Fairbanks jr had already been in the movie business for 14 years when he made this film, despite being a youthful 21 years old. Although he would go on to become one of the more delightful actors of the '30s and '40s, he shows little promise of that here, nor any sign of talent acquired during his previous 25 films.

A prologue announces the virtuous intention of depicting a moral scourge so that an informed public can combat it--but this is clearly just a CYA that allows the intriguingly-named "Personality Pictures" company to run this cheesy exploitation flick past the already toothless production code office.

Maude Lindsay (Almeda Fowler) runs a "party girl" service for business functions, and she tries to send her hootchiest coochies to the United Glass soiree. (The only real humor in the entire film comes from her secretary continually addressing her as "Madame Lindsay," and Lindsay admonishing her, "Don't call me madam!") John Rountree is an upright business man who wants to work with the district attorney to eliminate the party girl influence on doing business; his son Jay (Fairbanks) is a ne'er-do-wheel frat boy in love with dad's secretary, Ellen (Jeanette Loff)--a girl with a secret.

Jay and his frat brothers crash the United Glass party, and a drunken Jay is trapped by a party girl, herself in a delicate situation.

The usual confusion ensues.

As the previous commenter notes, the sound quality is abysmal, but it may be just as well--the dialogue is no great shakes. There are certain scenes painful in their laughableness, especially the death scene of a tender young thing who's fallen 6 stories, and yet appears not to have a scratch on her.

It's a dreadful film, and not even dreadful in that delicious "so bad it's good" sort of way.