boblipton Oh you kid! But which one? When Clara Bow and Jean Arthur are sisters and Jean Harlow has a small role, it's hard to make up your mind which is the Saturday Night Kid for you.At least we can be sure it's not Edna May Oliver in her first talkie role. In this remake of 1926's LOVE THEM AND LEAVE THEM. Miss Bow and Miss Arthur are sisters who share a room in a boarding house . They're both sweet on fellow lodger James Hall -- who thinks of Clara as his girl -- and they all work at the same department store. When Miss Arthur, who is the pet of the store's formidable Miss Oliver, winds up in charge of the employees' welfare fund, she not only blows it on the horses, she makes a play for Mr. Hall and blames the loss on her sister.There are a lot of problems with this movie. Overlay a nasal dem-dese-dose accent on Miss Arthur's squeaks, and you've got something very annoying; Miss Bow had been stress eating and was a few pounds over zoftig here, and the film was edited down to 64 minutes, so short that a lot of plot points are left hanging. B.P. Schulberg had been complaining for some time that Miss Bow needed better vehicles. Despite a formidable cohort, this was not it for the It Girl.

wes-connors Boarding house sisters Clara Bow (as Mayme Barry) and Jean Arthur (as Janie Barry) both work as salesgirls in "Ginsberg's Department Store". Ms. Bow is in love with dashing James Hall (as William "Bill" Taylor). Conveniently, Mr. Hall rooms at the same boarding house, and also works at "Ginsberg's". Her friends think Bow may give up her reputation as "The Saturday Night Kid", and marry Hall. But, Ms. Arthur has other plans; Bow's sneaky little sister "borrows" her underwear, perfume, money - and, finally, her man.This sound re-make of "Love 'Em and Leave 'Em" puts Bow in the successful department store setting of "It". The locale, and situations, really don't work; but, the makeshift terrace party area looks great. Bow is fine as "Mayme", but she might have been better than Arthur as "Janie". Arthur's character is so transparent, and annoying, it's difficult to understand her extraordinary ability to deceive; and, this version of the play leaves her character "unresolved". Edna May Oliver (as Miss Streeter) makes an impressive sound debut, and Jean Harlow has a small role.**** The Saturday Night Kid (10/25/29) A. Edward Sutherland ~ Clara Bow, Jean Arthur, James Hall

drednm Clara Bow stars in this early talkie about two sisters (Jean Arthur) who work in a department store and vie for the same guy (James Hall).While Bow plays a fast girl who's always getting into trouble at work for being late, Arthur is actually the sneak and compulsive gambler (with store funds). She also has a yen for Bow's Boyfriend, Hall. That's about it for plot.Charles Sellon plays the crooked gambler. Jean Harlow has a few lines as the friend and one scene with Bow and Arthur. Harlow and Hall would star in Hell's Angels a few years after this. Edna May Oliver in her talkie debut plays the head of personnel, and Frank Ross plays Ken. Ross would marry Arthur and become a film producer. And that's Bess Flowers trying out the reducing machine.Worth a look for feisty Clara Bow and Jean Arthur in an odd role.

stwhite After audiences of the 1920s had become accustomed to seeing Clara Bow portraying the carefree flapper or an aggressive woman out to get her man, this movie strays from those formulas. Confined by the limitations of the role of Mayme and the constraints of early sound films, Clara is much more inhibited and restrained in this film. That high energy personality and wonderful facial expressions that I love about her, were absent in this movie. As another reviewer stated, Clara would have been much more suited to play the role of Janie(particularly the scene where Janie steals Mayme's boyfriend) that went to a young Jean Arthur. Even when, she was several pounds overweight for a leading lady/sex symbol, Clara still manages too look great and she does well in the somewhat thankless role. Mayme is a "good" girl that has developed a cynical and hard boiled attitude from past romances gone bad. It was also interesting to see Jean Arthur play a selfish, impulsive, immature Janie(who doesn't hesitate to stab her sister in the back if her neck is on the line) after seeing her in more virtuous roles in the 30s and she turns in a good performance despite just an average script and dialogue. The Saturday Night Kid also provides an interesting glimpse into the late 20s lifestyle from riding a street car to working in a department store. Yes, 75 years ago they were doing company "pep rallies" that employees had to attend and show their enthusiasm whether they were enthused to be there or not. There are very few films that were made in 1929 with outstanding productions values and are enjoyable to watch. While this film has it's problems I think it is better than most of the early sound films that I've seen, including THE WILD PARTY with Clara. 6/10