Girl Missing

I've become very aware of the fast talking in early films since a high school class saw a screwball comedy from the '30s and couldn't understand anything because the people were talking too fast. Wow.

Girl Missing from 1933 stars Glenda Farrell, Mary Brian, Lyle Talbot, Guy Kibbee, Ben Lyon, and Peggy Shannon.

Farrell and Brian play Kay and June, two chorus girls who have glommed onto a rich guy (KIbbee) and are leading him on, all the while living it up in Florida. He finally gets sick of June having a headache and takes off, leaving the women with a $700 hotel bill.

Fortunately, an old friend (Talbot) comes through and pays their bill. He also buys them tickets so they can go home. However, they miss the train and have to stay an extra night.

Then they find out that another golddigging chorus girl, Daisy (Peggy Shannon) newly married to a rich man, Henry Gibson (Lyon) has disappeared. Her new husband is offering a $25,000 reward for anyone who can find her. Kay decides they're staying put.

This film moves like lightning, with Glenda Farrell saying probably pages of dialogue in seconds. It seems from the story that Kay is the one trying to fix June up with a wealthy man. Farrell is only two years older and an attractive blond, so I did wonder why she wasn't looking to score herself.

Very much a Warners Brothers film, with the two women deftly solving the mystery of Daisy's disappearance and a murder besides. Always fun, always fast.

When Ben Lyon's bride is kidnapped from their Palm Beach hotel, stranded chorines Glenda Farrell and Mary Bryan find themselves mixed up as witnesses, suspects, and crime-crackers.

For a Warner Brothers quickie that clocks in at 69 minutes, this one has a surprisingly leisurely set-up, taking the first 25 minutes to paint the resort as populated by gold diggers, operators and rich marks. This is made possible by casting Miss Farrell, who could recite all of Hamlet in 27 minutes, but also the efficient story-telling at Warners in this period. It's not a topnotch script, but director Robert Florey keeps things humming along, with a few dutch angles and cheesecake shots to keep the intellectuals and lechers happy.

Motor-mouthed Glenda Farrell adds sass and vinegar to this better-than-most crime programmer dating from the early sound era. She and Mary Brian play a couple of New York gold-diggers stranded in Palm Beach when frustrated sugar daddy Guy Kibbee sticks them with an unpaid hotel bill. Spurred on by the prospect of a big reward, they get mixed up in the bridal-night disappearance of yet another gold-digger (Peggy Shannon), whom they know from her days in the kick line, but who managed to snag a millionaire (Ben Lyon).

In the course of their meddling, they encounter an old pal (Lyle Talbot) who seems anxious to get them out of town; a pair of overstuffed hams posing as a society couple (Helen Ware, Ferdinand Gottschalk); and a body in the hotel gardens, still smoking a cigar. Film buffs will catch brief appearances by Walter Brennan, Louise Beavers and Dennis O'Keefe.

Without ever really losing sight of its mystery plot or lapsing into the `comic,' Girl Missing brandishes a lot of racy, pre-Code wit, dished out mainly by Farrell. Most of the credit can no doubt go to scriptwriter Jules Furthman, whose credits include Shanghai Express, Bombshell, The Big Sleep and Nightmare Alley. The rest can go to Frenchman Robert Florey, whose directorial career may not be quite so distinguished but bears watching: Cocoanuts (the first Marx Brothers movie), the first `talking' Murders in the Rue Morgue, and a few noirs like Danger Signal and The Crooked Way. Girl Missing succeeds because of good teamwork, and it had a great team.

Girl Missing (1933)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Robert Florey directed this fast-paced Warner mystery about a couple chorus girls (Glenda Farrell, Mary Brian) who are ditched in Palm Springs after their sugar daddy (Guy Kibbee) leaves them there. They hear about a former friend who has snagged a millionaire (Ben Lyon) but after she goes missing on her honeymoon the girls decide to do their own investigating. GIRL MISSING certainly isn't going to be mistaken for a classic but there's no doubt that the cast is attractive and it all leads up to a pretty good ending. I think the best thing the film has going for it is the cast all of whom fit their roles quite nicely. Farrell and Brian are certainly the strong points as the two work perfectly well together and they know had to throw things back and forth and they really help keep the film moving. The two of them have some nice comic timing and there's no question that they take their parts and rise them a few notches. Lyon is also good in his role as the husband who might have something to hide and we also have Lyle Talbot playing a man who helps the girls out. Kibbee appears at the very start of the film in just a five-minute sequence but he's certainly memorable in the funny bit of a man who wants to "make love" for spending money on the ladies. The opening few scenes contain quite a bit of pre-code comedy aimed at money for sex, which is certainly fun when viewed today. The film has quite a few small issues including the fact that the comedy usually doesn't work. There are some supporting characters who are constantly arguing and this here never gets the laughs. There are also some minor bits with a dimwitted detective that really doesn't work either. With that said, fans of "B" mysteries should enjoy this one as it goes by at a quick pace and there's no doubt that the cast is attractive.

Glenda Farrell is a delight as Torch Blane in that series. Here we have more of a hybrid:

This starts out as a light-hearted comedy dedicated strictly to the fine art of gold-digging.

When it eases into the mystery suggested by the title, Glenda keeps pace beautifully and the movie keeps its rhythm.

A real pleasure!