Girls About Town (film)


Girls About Town is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic comedy film directed by George Cukor and starring Kay Francis and Joel McCrea.

Plot

Wanda Howard and Marie Bailey go out with two balding, middle-aged businessmen from out of town to help Jerry Chase close a sale. However, the women, who share a luxurious suite in an apartment building, have their African-American maid Hattie disguise herself as their mother, waiting at the window, to avoid having to invite the men inside.
Wanda is getting tired of how she makes a living, but she and Marie go aboard a yacht the next night to divert rich practical joker Benjamin Thomas and his handsome business associate Jim Baker. Jim knows that the women are paid "entertainment", but quickly finds himself falling for Wanda anyway, and vice versa. Once Jim realizes she genuinely loves him, he asks her to marry him. Although she is initially reluctant, she agrees. However, she informs Jim that there is one complication: her estranged husband Alex. She asks him for a divorce, and he agrees.
Meanwhile, Benjamin's wife, who is divorcing him because of his stinginess, shows up and asks Marie to stop making a fool of him. Marie realizes that Mrs Thomas is still in love with her husband, and comes up with a plan to cure him of his tightfisted ways. The next day, Marie steers Benjamin to the jewelry store where Mrs Thomas is waiting. Mrs Thomas, pretending not to see him, complains how cheap her husband is. Benjamin becomes so angry he buys Marie some expensive merchandise for about $50,000.
That night, Alex crashes the birthday party Marie has arranged for Benjamin. He tells Jim that he wants $10,000 or he will name Jim as the co-respondent in the divorce. Alex insinuates that Wanda is part of the blackmail scheme. Believing the lie, Jim breaks up with Wanda.
Wanda visits Alex in Brooklyn and demands he give the money back. He introduces her to the ailing Mrs. Howard and their baby, the reasons he needs the money so desperately. He confesses that he got a divorce in Mexico 2 years before, and promises to pay her back once he is back on his feet financially. Touched, Wanda leaves without the check.
Wanda decides to auction off enough of her possessions to her friends to raise $10,000 and pay Jim back. She also asks Marie to return her jewelry. Wanda gives Jim the proceeds; even before that, however, he has come to his senses, and the couple reconcile. Marie gives Benjamin's gifts to his wife and reunites that couple.

Cast

Uncredited:
, The New York Times film critic, gave Girls About Town a qualified favorable review, writing, "This handsomely staged and ably directed production is one that affords no little laughter, but unfortunately it is burdened in the latter stages by highly improbable serious sequences."