Times Square Playboy

The nominal star attraction of "Times Square Playboy" is Warren William, but it's clear even before the halfway point that the real leading actor in this comedy of misunderstandings is Gene Lockhart, who gives a tour de force performance as a small town Joe Average who jumps to ill-informed conclusions when he and his wife come to New York City to attend the wedding of his oldest friend, business tycoon William.

Two other surprises in this 60-minute programmer are some moments of unfaked rough- housing by William and Barton MacLane (as his butler) and an extended one-take jogging scene in an actual park instead of a treadmill with back projection, which would have been more typical for a Warner Bros. cheapie of the period.

The plot, from a well-structured play by George M. Cohan, involves Lockhart's belief that the young cabaret singer William is engaged to marry (Jean Travis) is a golddigger whose family are cheats along for the ride to millions by marriage. Much farcical mayhem ensues. William gets to play a drunk scene, as he often does, and he does it as well as usual. But for sheer acting range it's Lockhart's picture.

"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.

Pitched about ten decibels too high as though that makes the lame material funnier, the shouted dialog from Vic (William) and Ban (Lockhart) had me reaching for earmuffs. That might be okay if there were enough comedy to relieve the aural assault. But there isn't. Then too the storyline is flat and repetitive, about a mix-up between Vic's best man Ban and his fiancee's family, putting them at loggerheads. Meanwhile, the mix-ups bounce around like pinballs with about that much credibility. The most interesting part is the mock wrestling between "butler" Casey (MacLane) and his uptown employer Vic. Seems Casey is also Vic's physical trainer, a good amusing touch. There's also a promising subplot of big city vs. small town that unfortunately goes under-developed. Fortunately, the movie does have the great Warren William—the main reason I tuned in. Plus, he gets a chance to play outside his usual high-class schemer roles. I'm just sorry that overall the material and direction add up to an over-the-top disappointment.

This was the second filming of George M. Cohan's 1926 comedy about Warren William inviting his long-time friend, Gene Lockhart, to be best man at his wedding. Lockhart perceives that his fiancée, June Travis, and her family are gold diggers taking William for a ride, so he proceeds to wreck the relationship. Gene Lockhart has the best role, the best lines and the best performance. The only trouble with the movie is that it takes too long for William to set Lockhart straight. It would have been a better movie if William tried more forcefully at first but failed because Lockhart constantly interrupted him. As it is, there are enough pauses to make me think he didn't try just to extend the running time, which is a short 62 minutes anyway. It's clearly director William McGann's fault. But Lockhart is great as the supreme conclusion jumper and buttinsky, and this movie is still much better than the 1940 remake. I'd love to see the first 1928 version, also a talkie.

You might notice a credit error: Craig Reynolds is credited onscreen with the character name of Joe Reynolds, but he is called Joe Roberts throughout the movie.