Party Girl

Wild Women! Bootleg hooch! Hot jazz! Sequins and furs! Blackmail! Suicide! This pre-Code cautionary tale opens with a typical disclaimer stating "It is our earnest hope that this film may arouse you..." Of course, they mean arouse your indignation to help eliminate such vices as you view in this exposé. Or, do they?

Pleasant juvenile Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., headlines along with a bevy of largely talent-free "party girls". Judith Barrie has some especially embarrassing scenes, leading one to wonder whether she may have gotten her part by being a party girl. Almeda Fowler, making her film debut as Maude "Don't call me Madam" Lindsay, and veteran actor John St. Polis put in decent performances adding some humor. The well regarded Earl Burtnett and His Hotel Biltmore Orchestra from Los Angeles provides suitable jazz accompaniment.

The best scene is the party where guests arrive in their automobiles via a service elevator directly to the party. The much commented upon perfumed fountain scene seems to have been excised from the version available from Alpha Video. Altogether, this is a pleasant diversion that pushes the envelope even for pre-Code Hollywood.