Times Square Playboy

"Times Square Playboy" is a Depression era comedy about the high life of the well-to-do. One notices that the company that Victor Arnold heads is a stock and bonds firm. This film came out less than seven years after the Wall Street collapse (October 1929) that began the Great Depression worldwide. Perhaps Hollywood was trying to send a message that things were once again healthy, or well on the way to recovery.

It was during this decade that many movies were stories about wealthy people who seemed not to have been hurt by the stock market crash. They were living the good life, especially the good night life. And, the early days of sound pictures seemed to have a fascination for New York City, Broadway and Times Square. Did the movies originate or fuel the myth that every small-town girl dreamed of escaping to the big city?

Most of the people going to the "pictures" in 1936 were in the working class. One wonders what the different thoughts might be when, in this film, the male lead buys a $40,000 bracelet for his fiancé. That would be nearly $740,000 in 2019. The average household income in the U.S. in 1936 was barely $1,000, compared to about $60,000 in 2019. So, that one bracelet then amounted to nearly a lifetime of work for the average working person.

Anyway, this is a comedy that stars some well-known actors of the day. Warren William and Gene Lockhart were seasoned film actors before this, and though William has the male lead, Lockhart has the dominant role here, with more film time. Indeed, this movie seems to be a showcase for Gene, who uses it well with displays of a range of behaviors and moods. He is on the verge of a breakdown, angry to the point of exploding. He is suspicious and amiable, and then rueful and sorry.

Lockhart plays P.H. Bancroft, a long-time best friend of Arnold's. His wife in real life, Kathleen Lockhart, plays his wife here. Lottie Bancroft has her fair share of screen time for some quality acting as well. The Arnold part is rather small for William, who usually had substantial leads. Of course, his physical workouts here detract from the acting, but look quite good as he wrestles, runs and does other workout routines with his butler, Casey (played by Barton MacLane). This reminds me of another comedy, "Hard to Get" of 1938 that stars Dick Powell and Olivia de Havilland. Charles Winninger plays her wealthy dad, Ben Richards, who has an array of physical asides with his valet and right hand man, Case, played by Melville Cooper.

The rest of the cast are fine. The screenplay seems choppy in places, and the technical quality isn't very good. The plot is familiar but has a nice twist. The story is just so-so, but those who enjoy older films should find this one palatable. Those who are hooked on the adrenalin flows in many modern films will probably be bored.

One critic wrote, "it's fifteen minutes for sure before there's an inkling of what the story's about." That's one of the elements that makes it so good: you can't figure it out. This is not formula, but a tightly written play from George M Cohan. The second scene has a clichéd conversation between two characters. Later, one player takes the chat and puts a totally negative spin on it. The other actors argue that everything he interpreted is opposite from the truth. This is like a good courtroom drama. Other elements that make it great are Gene Lockhart and Bart MacLane at their best. The comedy is funny, especially when Lockhart gets apoplectic. It has slapstick, and proves that a wrestling move taught in act 1 must be used in act 3. True screwball, the best of all movie genres.

I definitely agree that this picture was 'stolen" by Gene Lockhart. He is delightful as he storms around, ranting about how his buddy is about to be "taken" by the family of the woman he is going to marry. Lockhart's real life wife Kathleen plays his wife in the movie. Her acid tongued rejoinders to him are delightful. It was also a treat for me to see Barton MacLane in a role where he is not some kind of bad guy. It's a real change of pace for him and he handles it very well. There's not much plot to this film, no criminals or thugs, but it is a nice, simple story of two life long friends and how they resolve a major misunderstanding. At 62 minutes it moves quickly and the viewer won't become bored.

Wall Street tycoon Warren William is engaged to nightclub singer June Travis, so his oldest friend from Big Bend Indiana, Gene Lockhart, comes to town with his wife Kathleen Lockhart, to be best man. But Lockhart -- Gene, not Kathleen -- is suspicious of Miss Travis, and her family, and her ex-boyfriend. He quarrels with William, then the wedding is called off.

It's an ensemble piece, but Lockhart gets a rare chance to be the de facto lead, and does a decent job in this second-feature remake of 1928 THE HOME TOWNERS. It was based on a George M. Cohan play and directed for speed by William McGann. Like many a Warner B of this period, it's adequate without being memorable.

I imagine Warner Bros. thought titling the film "Times Square Playboy" with Warren William starring would bring in more business than the title of the play upon which the movie is based - the more aptly named "The Home Towners", and they were probably right.

You can tell that after the production code era began in 1934 Warner Bros. just didn't know what to do with Warren William. William plays a 40ish man of means, Vic Arnold, who invites an old hometown friend (Gene Lockhart as Ben Bancroft) to be best man at his wedding in New York City, which is where Vic has been living all of these years. This is more a story of city cousin/country cousin than anything else. When Ben first arrives in New York from his rural hometown he finds the whole thing exciting, but after he meets Vic's fiancée's brother, Ben gets the idea that Vic's fiancée is just marrying his friend for his money and the financial support she can get can for her entire family rather than for love. I found this part of the film hard to follow because I really didn't see anything in the action or speech of the brother-in-law-to-be that would suggest he or anyone else was gold digging.

The rest of the film is just about all of the trouble caused by some misspoken insulting words from Ben to Vic's fiancée's family, and quite frankly it seemed like much ado about nothing. Lockhart was good in this rare leading role, but the character was just too obnoxious and true to his nickname of "pig-head" to like, and Warren William was just too easy going about the whole thing. That's the problem with these first production code era high society comedies - the censors took away all of their ammo, rendering them unable to develop some interesting misunderstandings with punch, and it would be two or three years more before the movies could adapt to this very un-brave new world.

I like Warren William a great deal, and I highly suggest the movies he made during 1934 and before for a taste of him at his precode best, and I also recommend the films he did as the Lone Wolf at Columbia in the late 30's and early 40's, by which time Hollywood figured out how to convey the sophisticated sassiness of Warren William without crossing the censors. This one just disappoints on all elements of substance. I give it five stars for having great style but a story that misses the bullseye completely and wastes Warren William's talent.

One touch that I really liked: Barton MacLane, usually playing a bad guy, as Vic's not so gentle gentleman's gentleman.