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This film is nearly identical to one of those Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies, except minus music, in place of Astaire is Gene Raymond and in place of Ginger Rogers is Ann Sothern. The supporting characters are taken right from Top Hat or Swing Time. Helen Brodericik, Eric Blore, and Erik Rhodes are all in top form in identical roles from the Astaire/Rogers movies. This particular film is pretty funny, though, mainly because of Eric Blore's power trip when Gene Raymond, his boss, has him pretend to be HIS boss. Blore, always the servant, is hilarious as the pretend-boss. Also, the climactic scene is so bad it's funny. Raymond pretends he's about to commit suicide so that Sothern will prove her love for him. Odd, but charming all the same. 7/10.

Ann Sothern plays a model here who, especially in the beginning, is portrayed as quite a spoiled brat, as a viewer you quickly start to dislike her because of her selfish character.

However, Raymond nevertheless falls head over heels in love with her upon their first meeting. While he knows that she is purely after money, it comes across as very naive.

Gradually she becomes more sympathetic and the sharp edges in her character are smoothed away.

The scene in the bathroom is crucial but actually a bit too little to make it really believable.

All in all, somewhat amusing, but the romance is ultimately not very believable.

Despite a charming and capable cast, this movie was really bad.

The story had a fair-to-middling premise, but the final script was just muddled and silly.

The whole things seems to be based on "Hmmmm. We've got to crank out some film to fill some theaters."

Ann Sothern has long been one of my favorites (I guess I have several), and she is delightful to watch and lovely to look at. She is always charming, even downright adorable.

Gene Raymond is a good-looking and talented guy who seems to be little known these days, and I don't understand why.

Unfortunately, the production is slap-dash and fairly senseless and ultimately not a lot of fun. Except to see Ann Sothern.

"The Smartest Girl in Town" is a typical 1936 film with a typical plot. A wealthy man (Gene Raymond) falls for a model named Cookie (Ann Sothern) who mistakes him for a model. He has his butler (Erik Blore) call Cookie's booker and claim he's from an advertising agency so he can book her again and get close to her during the shoot. Meanwhile, Cookie's sister (Helen Broderick) is trying to marry her off to a supposedly rich foreigner (Erik Rhodes) whom Cookie not only doesn't love but can't understand.

The actors are all good - Helen Broderick always had great line delivery, and Eric Blore is in his usual role. Ann Sothern is beautiful and Gene Raymond is charming. It just doesn't add up to much with its very thin plot. I assume this was a B film since it only ran an hour. It's cute, but nothing special.

Ann Southern enjoys being a model and getting to wear rich clothing, but she hates turning it back in. She decides she's going to marry a rich man. When she's shooting a layout on a yacht, she concludes that Gene Raymond is, like her, a model earning a good $10 a day. He's actually the yacht's owner, a man constantly having to pay women for pursuing them. He decides he's going to win her by the force of his personality.

Raymond is in his rich, handsome guy mode here, and that's not my favorite characterizaton, but Miss Sothern is a delight at her most cynical. Under the direction of Joseph Santley, there are some nice comedy sequences, and the whole thing looks like it was shot on the sets for an Astaire-Rogers movie, and it has the character actors to prove it. Eric Blore is Raymond's manservant, Helen Broderick is Miss Sothern's scornful sister, and Erik Rhodes her fractured-Italian suitor. It's clearly all formula all the time, but the wry tone that everyone takes -- except for Raymond -- makes it fun.