Muchachas errantes

While it's true this movie is badly dated, I still think is worthwhile as a snapshot in time.

Made in 1940, it chronicles the experiences of a group of wandering hobo woman caught in the economic grinder of the depression. I think it's valuable, because most of us - even us ancianos - have little conception of how desperate and depressing things were back in those days.

The movie stars Ann Dvorak, Helen Mack, and Lola Lane, with a very competent supporting cast including Ann Doran and Mary Field. Ann Dvorak's performance especially stands out and reminds me of what an underrated actress she really was. While many of the others overact - I guess we can blame the director for a lot of that - her performance is understated and perfectly believable. But even though the production is theatrical and a little overdone, there are still nuggets of real emotion if you look for them. An expression, a tear in the eye, a quivering voice. Not what I would have expected in a melodrama like this.

This movie makes a sincere attempt to deal with, what was a real contemporary problem back when it was made, and although we have our own problems to deal with today, looking back in history is always a good way to keep from repeating it. Take a look.

A governor's daughter (Ann Dvorak) is concerned about girls living on the road with no family, no jobs and no money. She becomes one and, almost instantly, becomes friends with a hardened "road girl" named Mickey (Helen Mack). We then see a (purpotedly) truthful version of what girls on their own have to do to survive.

No budget Columbia picture. In 1940 this might have been a little shocking but today it comes across as silly and not even remotely truthful. Supposedly all these girls have lived on the road without clean clothes, showers or food for days--but they all look well fed, they're in clean clothes and are pretty healthy with makeup and beautiful hair. Even their hideout looks pretty opulent! Also when this film strives to make a message it's so overdone it comes off as comical. The funeral of one of the girls is supposed to be tragic but it comes off as unintentionally funny! Still, it's well done and Mack gives a good performance. It's marginally worth seeing if you're into obscure older movies (like me). I give it a 5.

Once again, Turner Classic Movies has rescued another rough-cut gem from obscurity in the musty vaults of Hollywood! TCM has changed my life by showing the classics that most of us never even knew existed. And "Girls of the Road" is definitely in that category.

Okay, so it's not "Gone With the Wind," but it's a classic even so. I've never seen anything quite like it. It's about female hobos from the Depression, running from the cops, fighting each other, living the vida loca al camino! Only in this subculture, all the women are young, beautiful and "good on the inside." Closest thing to this story I've seen is the "women in prison" movie genre of the period. There's a social-reform angle to it, as there was in many of the women in prison films. Remember, this was 1940--the Production Code ruled Hollywood. It was not possible to depict any vagrants or criminals in a positive light, at least not until they received a moral makeover.

Watch it for entertainment, though, not for any particular message. Such as it was, the message was about as substantive as a mouthful of cotton candy. The stars had some funny lines, almost all were good looking, and life didn't look so bad at the end. What more can you ask for?

Girls Of The Road finds Ann Dvorak as the daughter of the governor of some unnamed state going on the road incognito to get a look at conditions for women who are homeless. Dvorak takes an interest in her father's work and Governor Howard Hickman has just received a confidential investigative report about conditions for women in that situation. What Dvorak does, almost on impulse, is to hit the road herself and see first hand.

She falls in with Helen Mack and in turn with others, in the end in a sort of makeshift camp that's run by tough girl Lola Lane. Dvorak sees the problems the women have, the varied situations they come from that have led them to this vagabond existence.

Not the least of the problem is that the male of species is looked upon as a predator in many situations shown here. The unspoken lesbianism of the women is also quite clear, especially in Lola Lane's character.

There is one death among the women in the film and I won't say which of the characters dies, but the scene is quite moving. I think if you see the film you'll be able to pick out which character it is.

The obvious comparisons to make with this is with Warner Brothers Wild Boys Of The Road made seven years earlier. This one doesn't quite have the productions values that the Warner Brothers product did. This was strictly a product of Columbia's B picture unit and this kind of socially significant film had been passé for some time in Hollywood.

Still Girls Of The Road does have its merits and is a most curious product of the times.

...the major studio you work for does not want you anymore. Just like today back in the 'Golden Age of Hollywood' the shelf life of female Stars was noticeably shorter then their male counterparts. Three (3) of the Stars of GIRLS OF THE ROAD (1940) are more noted for their roles at their home studios. ANN DVORAK and LOLA LANE at Warner Brothers (WB) and HELEN MACK, RKO. When a studio was done with you it was fade away or find work somewhere else. That somewhere this time was at COLUMBIA.

GIRLS OF THE ROAD is a social commentary picture typical of the time and usually done most successfully at the WB. This effort from COLUMBIA though dated is still entertaining portraying the plight of vagrant women. A Governors Daughter played by DVORAK wishes first hand to find out how to solve the plight of these girls. The bulk of her odyssey is a learning experience and building a friendship with MACK. Concluding with the moral redemption of all including tough girl LANE.

There were five (5) major studios. M.G.M., PARAMOUNT, RKO, 20TH CENTURY FOX and WARNER BROTHERS. Plus some heavy-weight independents like GOLDWYN or SELZNICK. Now you could move horizontally between these studios and still be on top. The next level would be COLUMBIA, HAL ROACH, REPUBLIC, UNIVERSAL and UNITED ARTISTS. This was still respectable the only problem with working at COLUMBIA was putting up with HARRY COHN who fancied himself Don Juan. It could get worse though you might end up at MONOGRAM, PRC or any of the dozens of poverty row studios that came and went. Some not even lasting a year, fading away just like some their careers.