Times Square Playboy

The nominal star attraction of "Times Square Playboy" is Warren William, but it's clear even before the halfway point that the real leading actor in this comedy of misunderstandings is Gene Lockhart, who gives a tour de force performance as a small town Joe Average who jumps to ill-informed conclusions when he and his wife come to New York City to attend the wedding of his oldest friend, business tycoon William.

Two other surprises in this 60-minute programmer are some moments of unfaked rough- housing by William and Barton MacLane (as his butler) and an extended one-take jogging scene in an actual park instead of a treadmill with back projection, which would have been more typical for a Warner Bros. cheapie of the period.

The plot, from a well-structured play by George M. Cohan, involves Lockhart's belief that the young cabaret singer William is engaged to marry (Jean Travis) is a golddigger whose family are cheats along for the ride to millions by marriage. Much farcical mayhem ensues. William gets to play a drunk scene, as he often does, and he does it as well as usual. But for sheer acting range it's Lockhart's picture.