Smartest Girl in Town

This film is nearly identical to one of those Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers movies, except minus music, in place of Astaire is Gene Raymond and in place of Ginger Rogers is Ann Sothern. The supporting characters are taken right from Top Hat or Swing Time. Helen Brodericik, Eric Blore, and Erik Rhodes are all in top form in identical roles from the Astaire/Rogers movies. This particular film is pretty funny, though, mainly because of Eric Blore's power trip when Gene Raymond, his boss, has him pretend to be HIS boss. Blore, always the servant, is hilarious as the pretend-boss. Also, the climactic scene is so bad it's funny. Raymond pretends he's about to commit suicide so that Sothern will prove her love for him. Odd, but charming all the same. 7/10.

This is one of those film in which the dialogue is the star. It is filled with clever repartee. Not exactly realistic, but this is a comedy, after all. And the cast is up to the challenge, delivering the lines with gusto.

Ann Sothern plays the female lead, Cookie--a model who is weary of poverty and vows to change her luck by marrying a rich man. She is quite charming in this role, though I would prefer that her penciled-on eyebrows did not circle her eyes. I exaggerate, and it is not enough to ruin her beauty. In fact, I think the director missed an opportunity to frame that beauty in a meaningful way. Early in the film, she is sleeping in a deck chair, waiting for a shoot to begin. When she removes the hat that is covering her eyes, it is a glamorous shot reminiscent of other actresses' classic introductory shots, e.g. Grace Kelly in "Rear Window". If this shot of Sothern had been the first in the film, it would have been a memorable scene.

Gene Raymond plays the rich playboy, Richard Smith, out to capture her heart. Eric Blore--seemingly a fixture in every RKO production during this era--plays Richard's valet, Philbean, with the customary Blore bluster.

Helen Broderick plays Cookie's sister and delivers some of the best lines. She is determined to help her sister land a guy with greenbacks galore. But neither sister knows that Richard is rich.

"The Smartest Girl" is lightweight fun and only runs 58 minutes.

Ann Southern enjoys being a model and getting to wear rich clothing, but she hates turning it back in. She decides she's going to marry a rich man. When she's shooting a layout on a yacht, she concludes that Gene Raymond is, like her, a model earning a good $10 a day. He's actually the yacht's owner, a man constantly having to pay women for pursuing them. He decides he's going to win her by the force of his personality.

Raymond is in his rich, handsome guy mode here, and that's not my favorite characterizaton, but Miss Sothern is a delight at her most cynical. Under the direction of Joseph Santley, there are some nice comedy sequences, and the whole thing looks like it was shot on the sets for an Astaire-Rogers movie, and it has the character actors to prove it. Eric Blore is Raymond's manservant, Helen Broderick is Miss Sothern's scornful sister, and Erik Rhodes her fractured-Italian suitor. It's clearly all formula all the time, but the wry tone that everyone takes -- except for Raymond -- makes it fun.

This is a very lightweight film from RKO that has many of the same things you'd find in a Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers film--but also without the same quality or fun. Plus, there is a serious problem with one of the characters that makes it hard to rate this one higher.

Ann Sothern plays a model who has decided that she needs to get married--and not for love but money. It just happens that a rich guy is instantly smitten with her (you're never sure why) and after ignoring him for much of the film, Ann decides she can allow herself to marry a poor guy--and they marry. Sounds romantic, no? NO! But the film has Helen Broderick and Eric Blore and a lot of the plot you'd expect in such a thing. But my problem is that Raymond's character seemed a bit daffy falling for her so quickly and she just seemed like a scheming gold-digger--not exactly an endearing quality.

Ann Sothern plays a model here who, especially in the beginning, is portrayed as quite a spoiled brat, as a viewer you quickly start to dislike her because of her selfish character.

However, Raymond nevertheless falls head over heels in love with her upon their first meeting. While he knows that she is purely after money, it comes across as very naive.

Gradually she becomes more sympathetic and the sharp edges in her character are smoothed away.

The scene in the bathroom is crucial but actually a bit too little to make it really believable.

All in all, somewhat amusing, but the romance is ultimately not very believable.