Havana Widows

...from First National and director Ray Enright. Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell star as a couple of show girls who decide to head for Havana to try and put some unsuspecting rich guys into compromising positions which will result in a big payday for them. They hone in on befuddled older man Guy Kibbee, but Blondell falls for his handsome (but poor) son Lyle Talbot. Also featuring Frank McHugh, Allen Jenkins, Ruth Donnelly, Hobart Cavanaugh, Ralph Ince, Luis Alberni, J. Carrol Naish, and Paul Porcasi.

Blondell and Farrell are two of my favorite ladies from this period of film, and I loved seeing them together. McHugh does his perpetual drunk shtick but I still found it funny. The gleefully amoral plot is a definitive example of pre-code inhibition.

What is odd here is that this seems to be a remake of sorts of 1930's The Life of the Party. Both were made in the precode era. The only thing I can figure is that the two female leads of that earlier film - Winnie Lightner and Irene Delroy were no longer headliners, and the new Warner Brothers stars were hardly even on the lot if at all just three years earlier. Thus the attempt at another bawdy version of the story, just with better sound technology and more current stars.

"Havana Widows" is a film about a couple of chorus girls (Glenda Farrell and Joan Blondell) who have trouble making ends meet. However, when an old acquaintance tells them about a scheme to trick rich millionaires into breech of promise lawsuits, the pair head to Havana...the vacation hangout of the rich and fancy back in the day. Once there, they plan on trapping some poor sap and making him pay! Not exactly a decent or honorable couple of dames, huh?!

Considering how dishonorable and larcenous the women are in this film, you do wonder if Warner Brothers would have made this movie only a year later after the toughened Production Code was adopted. Probably NOT is what I think. But it is high energy as well as entertaining! Plus, having Allen Jenkins, Frank McHugh and Guy Kibbee on hand as supporting actors definitely elevates the quality and fun of this movie.

Two of the screen's best wisecracking blonds, Mae and Sadie (Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell), star as gold digging showgirls in "Havana Widows," a 1933 comedy also starring Lyle Talbot, Guy Kibbee, Allen Jenkins and Frank McHugh.

After being visited by an old friend who made her fortune in Cuba, thanks to a compromising situation and a sharp attorney (McHugh), two showgirls borrow $1500 from a friend, Herman (Jenkins).

In order to get the money, Herman buys into a complicated scheme involving an insurance policy and a check, which later blows up in his face. Meanwhile, the girls head for Havana.

There, they meet a rich, married mark (Guy Kibbee) and his broke son (Talbot) - who of course falls for Mae. The sharp attorney turns out to be a roaring drunk 24/7, and soon, Herman appears, trying to get his money back and running from his creditor. It makes for good fun.

This is a very light comedy with the fastest dialogue ever spoken, coming out Blondell's and Farrell's mouths like a machine gun. I'm sure the amount of speaking in "Havana Widows" would equal two of today's scripts.

The roles they play are common ones for them - streetwise, hard-working young women with dry wit and a desire for some of life's comforts. They're both very good, Blondell with her adorable Kewpie-doll face and curvy body, and Farrell with that unmistakable voice and delivery. They made a good team.

Frank McHugh is very funny as the attorney - in thirty years, he never changed, and in his last film, Easy Come, Easy Go, he is instantly recognizable. Allen Jenkins as the harried friend gives good support.

All in all, an enjoyable film, nothing groundbreaking.

Blondell & Farrell are excellent. Blondell was edible. This was very funny and I laughed often throughout it. Great dialogue and its loaded with wisecracks. I could've watched it for hours. Tremendous fun to watch.

The intended humor is broad, rather than clever; familiar, rather than original; flat, rather than funny. All the ingredients of classic farce are here, except the wit that makes such farce classic. Allen Jenkins offers his usual dumb-dumb character. Frank McHugh does the supposedly comical screen drunkard - swaying, staggering, falling. Guy Kibbee...well. suffice to say that he plays the same role he did in practically every other picture. That leaves our leading ladies: chorus girls on the make Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell. A promising duo, but comedy teams work best when the performers are opposites, and here the girls play virtually identical characters. Their wisecracks don't have much snap, but then neither does the picture overall. Joan radiates her cheerful charm, as usual, despite being called upon to chew gum throughout. I think she removed it to eat, and during her wedding scene.