Playing Around

"Playing Around" was obviously intended as a silent movie (note the screen credit, "titles-- silent version.") But with the advent of sound, First National quickly converted it to an all-talking and sometimes singing-and-dancing thriller. When we meet sassy tenement girl Alice White, she's dating gormless William Bakewell whose height of ambition is a raise to $35 a week. Then she's smitten with playboy Chester Morris unaware that his only means of support is an occasional stick-up. His next robbery stretches the long arm of coincidence to the breaking point. But director Mervyn Leroy doesn't let anything as trivial as the plot detract from the over-the-top musical numbers. And the result is surprisingly entertaining, especially for a movie made in 1929 and released in 1930.

Alice Whites career as a star only lasted around 6 years.By the time she made this her style of dizzy blonde was going out of fashion,to be replaced by the more cynical gold digger type played by Joan Blondell.In this film she is romanced by patent hair Chester Morris who robs her fathers shop in his spare time.Alice is no great shakes as an actress but she is a great personality.

...as were most of Alice White's films. Alice would never win any acting awards, but the films she starred in during her brief reign over at First National exemplify the end of the Jazz Age. Alice's characters may have not had the best judgment or the best taste in men, but their intentions were always good, and that is the case here.

The film starts out in a nightclub named "The Pirate's Den". A big pirate-themed production number that looks like something that didn't make the final cut in Warner's revue "The Show of Shows" takes up the first five or so minutes - but Alice is nowhere in sight at this point. After the show is over, our stars appear. Sheba and Jack (Alice White and William Bakewell) are out for a night on the town, but Jack gets a headache when he looks at the prices on the menu. At the club at the same time is Nickey Solomon (Chester Morris) who seems to be a likable fellow who enjoys living well. However, he has one major character flaw - his profession is holdup man. Fortunately for the patrons of the club, this is his night off. He and Sheba meet when the club has a "legs contest" in which the female patrons are invited to participate. The curtain is lowered on the stage so you can just see the legs of the participants, and the girls then parade around the stage. Nickey is named judge, and he picks Sheba's legs as the winner(s). When the curtain is raised he sees the rest of Sheba and Nickey is quite taken by the entire package.

From this point on Nickey is wooing Sheba, and Jack, who is just a 35 dollar a week soda jerk, is having a hard time competing. The scale is weighed even more heavily in Nickey's favor due to the fact that he is a rather talented liar who has Sheba believing he is a successful businessman. Chester Morris was excellent at playing an evil guy with a nice guy facade, but here you never see the really nasty side of his nature except for one scene. Nickey makes one serious mistake for a holdup guy - driving your own car to robberies and then blowing its unique sounding horn.

This film has Alice singing only one number. Besides the opening production number there is another big costumed production number towards the middle of the film also staged at "The Pirates Den". The supporting roles are played well here too. There are a couple of older ladies that live across the alley from Sheba and her father that are always gossiping, and the part of Sheba's poor but loving father is played with heart by Richard Carlyle. Recommended for fans of early talkie fare if it ever crosses your path. In the 16 years I've been watching Turner Classic Movies I don't recall it ever being aired there.

Alice White stars as Sheba Miller, a girl who wants more out of life than her soda-jerk boyfriend (William Bakewell) can give her. After winning a leg contest at a nightclub called The Pirate Den, she catches the eye of smooth talker Chester Morris, and she starts dating him. Bakewell hilariously comments that Morris dresses "like all his clothes fit him." Morris also flashes money and drives a snappy roadster. All these things are dear to White's heart. But then there is a neat plot twist that changes everything.

White is adorable and gets to sing "You Learn About Love Every Day." It's her only song but the nightclub acts sing a few more, including "You're My Captain Kidd" and "That's the Lowdown on the Lowdown." By 1930 audiences were tired of backstage musicals so filmmakers moved the numbers out front, which made them more realistic.

Morris and Bakewell are good, and then there's Marion Byron as the jazzy phone operator in the office where White works. White and Byron had also starred together in Broadway BABIES. Maurice Black is good as Joe the Bartender who gets suckered by Morris. Richard Carlyle plays White's father. And in a humorous tenement bit, Nellie Nichols and Ann Brody play a pair of immigrant gossipers who hang out their windows and exchange news in fractured English.

PLAYING AROUND was one of five films White starred in in 1930. In 1931, she had her final starring role in THE NAUGHTY FLIRT.

Worth a look for Alice White and some snappy pre-Code dialog.

Bubbly blonde Alice White (as Sheba Miller) enjoys an evening out at "The Pirates Den", an expensive nightclub. Her boyfriend William Bakewell (as Jack), a soda jerk making only $35 per week, thinks the place is out of their price range and wants to leave. On the way out, Ms. White enters the club's "pageant of the knees" contest and is judged by suave Chester Morris (as Nickey Solomon) to have the prettiest legs. Named "Queen of the Den," White sings "You Learn About Love Every Day" and arouses Mr. Morris. His friends advise White is a "no," but Morris considers her a possibility. White loves her childhood sweetheart, but is drawn to Morris' fancy lifestyle. White doesn't know it, but Morris has a secret she may not like...

This is a fairly typical plot, but the production turns out to be engaging. The popular elements of early talking pictures fall into place, with nightclub providing a natural site for musical numbers. The acrobatic blonde and other young women are an attractive diversion. Sounds of the city are natural, with Morris' car horn providing a focal point which fits neatly into the plot. The story, from writers Vina Delmar and Frances Nordstrom, is not extraordinary – however, secondary cultural characters and situations help keep it lively. The performances are theatrical, which fits the presentation as "Playing Around" is staged nicely by director Mervyn LeRoy and photographer Sol Polito; their lighting and tracking of sets a highlight.

****** Playing Around (1/19/30) Mervyn LeRoy ~ Alice White, Chester Morris, William Bakewell, Richard Carlyle