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.

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.

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.

"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.

Times Square Playboy (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Charming, if incredibly routine and predictable tale from Warner has country boy Vic Arnold (Warren William) making it big in the city and about to marry a stage star (June Travis) but their relationship hits the rocks when the best man (Gene Lockhart), also a country boy, shows up and thinks his friend is being taken advantage of. TIMES SQUARE PLAYBOY probably would have worked better had it been made during the pre-code era because it could have allowed some of the situations to be more frank and open. For a comedy there aren't too many laughs to be had here but I think the cast makes it worth sitting through and the 62-minute running time goes by without any slow paces. I think the best thing going for the film are its performances but the real standout is Lockhart who plays a major idiot who is constantly saying the wrong things. There's a sequence where he goes off on all the city people in his friend's life and the fast, maniac style that the actor does here is quite amusing and you'll be wanting to punch him in the nose by the time it's over. William could play this type of role in his sleep and he too does a nice job here as does Travis as the bride to be. Dick Purcell adds nice support and Kathleen Lockhart does a good job with her husband. The biggest thing working against the film is that not enough of the laughs work and I'd also say that the material is way too predictable for its own good. The fast paced nature of the attempted jokes will remind people of the type of screwball comedies that would be so popular in the 1940s.