Working Girls (1931)

Director:

Dorothy Arzner

Writers:

Zoe Akins (writer)
Vera Caspary (play)

Release Date:

12 December 1931 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Lesbian | Lesbian Subtext | Sibling Rivalry | Love Triangle | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Judith Wood	...	June Thorpe
Dorothy Hall	...	Mae Thorpe
Charles 'Buddy' Rogers	...	Boyd Wheeler
Paul Lukas	...	Dr. Joseph Von Schrader
Stuart Erwin	...	Pat Kelly
Frances Dee	...	Louise Adams
Mary Forbes	...	Mrs. Johnstone
Frances Moffett	...	Lou Hollings
Claire Dodd	...	Jane
Dorothy Stickney	...	Loretta
Alberta Vaughn	...	Violet

Runtime:

77 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.20 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Company:

Paramount Pictures

Trivia:

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

Quotes:

Mae Thorpe: [about June] Don't think she's conceited because she talks big Miss Johnson. She's just young.

An interesting film. Lesbianism, fornication, illegitimacy, wisecracks .. who could ask for anything more?

Dorothy Arzner makes the film interesting by the way she depicts the clichéd story and by the touches she adds.

An aura of lesbianism pervades the beginning of the film, set in a woman's hostel, as women are seen dancing closely arm in arm, and one (Dorothy Stickney) winks and smiles suggestively at another (Judith Wood), with the latter winking back!

Lesbianism lays dormant the rest of the film as focus shifts to sisters Judith Wood and Dorothy Hall and their attempt to become "working girls." Double entendres fill the screen as Hall is hired by lecherous professor Paul Lukas, mostly because he feels she can give him "satisfaction." Lukas suggests she get boots to protect her feet during rainy weather; caught in a shoe store by a friend, Hall explains, "My boss told me to get some rubbers!"

At the shoe store, Hall meets rich Harvard man Charles 'Buddy' Rogers and falls in love. After months of courtship, they accidentally spend an evening alone together and the inevitable happens. Equally inevitable, Rogers, having conquered, silently abandons Hall and becomes engaged to Frances Dee, a woman from his own social class. Roger's conquest has lingering effects, though, as Hall is with child. When Judith Wood finds out, she gets a gun and demands Rogers marry her sister! Rogers has no qualms about complying. As he tells a friend, he prefers Hall over Dee: Dee is of his station, his social equal and no fun, while Hall, being of the working class, looks up to him and treats him like a God, and this he likes! This is incredibly cynical film, especially where men are concerned!

Dorothy Hall steals the picture as Jane Thorpe, her last screen role. Judith Wood, who, billed as Helen Johnson played Dot in "The Divorcée" (1930), is equally good. Less so is Paul Lukas. He gives a confused performance; not completely sleazy, but not completely honorable, and not at all funny. Lukas gives a similar confused performance in another Arzner film, "Anybody's Woman" (1930).

This film didn't get much of a release in 1931, being effectively buried by Paramount. Little wonder given its content! It's well worth tracking down. The UCLA Television and Motion Picture Archive has beautifully restored it, along with five other Arzner Paramount films. It's an 8/10.