maryszd Play Girl, made in 1940 shortly before America entered World War II, is a film that looks back to Depression era films. An aging "gold-digger" Grace (Kay Francis), realizes that she's too old (over 30) to hoodwink vain older men. She takes on a destitute nineteen-year-old Ellen (Mildred Coles), and grooms her to be her successor. But Ellen turns out to be a good girl after all, and falls for a young cowboy named Tom, leading to a predictably happy ending. The economically precarious life of unmarried women lurks beneath the film's labored humor. I was struck by the vulnerability of the three women (Margaret Hamilton plays Josie, Grace's maid--a failed maternal figure to both the younger women). Fortunately for the women like the ones in this film, there would be plenty of war work available soon enough. They could earn an honest living and acquire decent job skills while the men fought overseas. In the regressive fifties, films like Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend would bring back the old gold-digger theme, but the women in the later film have a toughness and self-reliance (after all, Marilyn Monroe was discovered working at a munitions factory) that even the sleek Grace can't quite manage. Grace, in a plot twist, goes after Tom and gets a visit from Tom's mother. Like Grace, she's an elegantly dressed older woman who gently puts Grace's feet in the fire. This woman's film is so much about the predicament of aging and marginalized women. It's fitting that Kay Francis, whose studio was desperate to get rid of her, played Grace. She was always a class act.

mark.waltz Realizing that her days attracting wealthy suitors are numbered, sophisticated social climber Kay Francis decides to utilize the charms of a 19 year old innocent (Mildred Coles) in order to continue her wealthy lifestyle. She passes Coles off on elderly Nigel Bruce, a man obviously in his 60's who claims to be 39. Bruce showers Coles with furs and jewelry, but at Kay's urging, Coles pretends to make Bruce think she wants to marry him, something he is totally against. This leads to a settlement out of court to avoid a public scandal (something Ms. Francis's character was notorious for) and sends Coles onto Francis's next victim (G.P. Huntley). But Coles has fallen for James Ellison, whom she, Francis and the maid (a hysterical Margaret Hamilton) had earlier encountered while traveling. Ellison turns out to be wealthy himself, a breeder of horses, not the trainer the trio of women had thought he was. Coles suddenly gets a case of a guilt complex when Ellison brings up marriage and disappears. This puts Francis on the pounce to get Ellison for herself, but when Ellison's mama (Katherine Alexander) shows up and is revealed to be near Kay's age, Ms. Francis has an attack of conscience herself.Free from her mistreatment at Warner Brothers, Kay moved onto freelance during the last quarter of her film career. This is an rare enjoyable foray into comedy for the notorious clothes horse who looks "wavishing" (as her wisecracking descentors would say, imitating her charming speech impediment) and gets to utilize some fun wisecracks along the way. Nigel Bruce gets the best material for the men, while the others are overshadowed by the women. However, the best notice I must give goes to that "Wizard of Oz" witch Margaret Hamilton who gets to make a crack about "riding on air" that sounds like a pre-quel to "defying gravity". She has never been so free in films to let loose with her comedic talents, and comes closer to being like Mary Wickes here than her usually sour-pussed gossipy old maids. The scene towards the end between Francis and Alexander is nicely written and has a beautiful pay-off.My biggest gripe comes from the use of the social columns who apparently are on to the foils of the two gold diggers. It seems rather forced to believe that the newspapers would pick up the activities of two non-celebrities who are doin' what comes naturally for single women in pre-war America.

krdement I think Kay Francis is an acquired taste that I am still acquiring. This film is not a great vehicle, but oddly, I liked Kay in this role better than I do most of her films. Her character is usually very long- suffering. But here she plays "Grace." She is an aging gold-digger rapidly reaching the point of no-return, and she realizes it. Yet she doesn't respond with melodrama, but with a plan to sponsor a protégé, passing on her "wisdom" in exchange for a share of the young woman's "earnings." Despite the rather seamy subject matter, however, this film and Francis' role are both much lighter than most of her vehicles.It provides a very predictable, formulaic plot and very few laughs. But the two best scenes are humorous, even if not hilarious, and make this film worth seeing. Early in the film, Grace is coaching her protégé, Ellen, before her first date with her first "mark," Nigel Bruce. It is as if they are rehearsing a play, with Kay assuming Nigel's role. In her coaching, she not only anticipates every line, verbatim, that he later uses for real, but she gives a very funny imitation of Bruce's very distinctive British accent.In a later scene in a steam bath, Bruce assumes Kay's persona in describing to another intended "mark" how the two women fleeced him in Chicago. Straight into the camera, he quotes Kay as she had addressed him: "If you want to make her vewy, vewy happy, get her a mink coat." I wondered whether it was an ad lib or it was scripted. But what I really wondered was how Kay, herself, took the spoof. Her difficulty pronouncing the letter, "R," was legendary. Yet she seems so upbeat in this movie that it leaves the impression that she must have been a good sport about it.I fault the ending not because it was a fairy-tale wrap-up, but because it was abrupt and rather disjointed. The central focus of the movie is the romance between Tom and Ellen, but the central character is Grace. When the movie ended with the off-screen reconciliation of Tom and Ellen, and Grace's anticipating a happy ending with a completely unknown man, I felt like I had been deprived of seeing the resolution of either the film's central story or its central character.The character of Tom's uncle should have been a larger role, bringing him into a slowly growing relationship with Kay. After all, she spends most of her time lounging around in a negligee while Ellen and her beaus are out on the town. Giving the uncle a larger, continuous presence would have provided greater continuity and a nice sub-plot. As it is, Kay's presumptive happy ending is diminished, since it is with a virtual non-entity. We have seen him only once in the early part of the film, riding in a boxcar with Tom and some horses to Chicago. I don't recall whether he even has any lines. In the end, we never see him. He's in the lobby of Kay's apartment while she delightedly prepares to meet her "last" man. Neither one is apparently even on the other's radar screen. I would have liked that relationship to have been developed for the fairy-tale. I also wanted to see Tom and Ellen reconciled in person. These changes might have resulted in a non-musical romantic comedy in the mode of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers/Edward Everett Horton-Helen Broderick foursome in some of the Astaire-Rogers films. It would have been far more satisfying and really improved this film.

MartinHafer This film is definite evidence that the films in the latter portion of Kay Francis' career were pretty ordinary. This film, while competent, is only passable entertainment and certainly won't keep your undivided attention.Kay plays a high-living gold digger. The problem is that she never got married and settled down and now she's broke and her prospects are few. So, on a lark, she finds a young protégé and grooms her to be a gold digger as well--but also to marry and keep a rich guy. The problem is that the young lady has scruples and she just can't bring herself to do this to such a nice guy. So, Kay decides to pull out all the stops and try to get the guy herself--even though she's older than the young man's mother! Oddly, one of the beaus that the protégé has in the film is Nigel Bruce. While his age is fine for the film (after all, she was looking for a "sugar daddy"), saying he was from Chicago made me laugh. After all, Bruce has a very, very English accent and seeing the guy who later played Dr. Watson in the Sherlock Holmes films as an American from Chicago made me laugh.Otherwise, there's not much in this film that seems new or particularly interesting. Even the noble ending seems all too familiar. Watchable, but that's about it.