Just perfect...

A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

The movie really just wants to entertain people.

CITY OF MISSING GIRLS is set in the titular location and sees a group of district attorneys, reporters, and cops trying to piece together pieces of a jigsaw puzzle involving numerous disappearances of beautiful young women, all of whom were students at a local fine arts college.The story that transpires is heavy on plot but less so on involvement, as the events portrayed tend to play out in a rather routine fashion. At least there's plenty of incident to keep you occupied, as well as a rather large tableau of characters. What's most interesting about CITY OF MISSING GIRLS is the subject matter dealing with prostitution, blackmailing and vice, most of which is only hinted at in these old days.

For lovers of B movies this film is a cornucopia of stars - silent stars - Walter Long, stars on the way down - Astrid Allwyn, H. B. Warner, stars on the way up - Gale Storm and stars that never were - Kathryn Crawford. In 1930 Crawford was getting the star treatment. She was thought a good bet by Paramount - enough to snare Buddy Rogers away from the more beautiful Carole Lombard and Virginia Bruce in "Safety in Numbers" (1930) - even though she was the drabbest of all the chorus girls in the movie. The next year she had the lead in "Flying High" which boasted Busby Berkeley choreography. Then musicals went out and so did Miss Crawford. She hung around until 1933 and then no more - until this movie - 8 years later, when she was billed as Katherine Crawford and played, what else, a jaded chorus girl.A philosophizing D.A. (H. B. Warner) is on a crusade to find out the fate of a group of missing girls, all of whom have attended a local dramatic school. A sleazy night club manager King Peterson (Philip Van Zandt), uses it as a feeder for his nightclub, which could also be a front for a prostitution racket - or that's what the D.A. wants to find out. Nora (Astrid Allwyn) is a newspaper reporter, whose father is a theatrical booking agent. She goes to him for information about the girls and while he pleads ignorance, he knows far more than he lets on. One of the missing girls turns up, showering gifts on her mother but being vague about her new job. It seems that one of the nightclub girls has been recruiting young girls for the drama school and Pauline , along with her pretty friend Mary (Gale Storm) are signed up. Pauline, however knows too much and is talking so she ends up dead in an alley. Nora's father runs the drama school but when he entered into association with Peterson, he didn't realise what was involved - and now he wants out.This is an OK movie. H.B. Warner had an astounding career - there didn't seem to be a role he wouldn't tackle. In this one he was so debonair - I kept expecting him to be unmasked as the villain. Astrid Allwyn, must have discovered the secret of eternal youth as she always looked young and beautiful.Recommended.

Having seen H. B. Warner as a character player in dozens of films, i was pleasantly surprised to see him starring in this crime-exploitation film about the white slave trade. I was also deeply impressed with his ability to carry the complex role of a poetic, philosophical police captain on the verge of retirement with such presence during the course of what otherwise would seem to have been destined to be a routine crime drama. Alas, being a post-code movie, the white slave trade aspect of the plot is only understandable as a subtext, but there are plenty of other intriguing moments in the movie that will make B-film enthusiasts sit up and say, "Wow." For me, the gymnastic dance featuring a pair of uncredited twin teen girls was one such moment. Where did they FIND such unusual talent? Who were those young, incredibly athletic, giggling twins? We'll probably never know. And then there was the scene in which H. B. Warner, previously seeming to be frail, distracted, and ready for the scrap heap of life, suddenly LEAPED INTO THE AIR and jumped into his bed feet first! What the heck!? That was truly replay-worthy. This is not a great film, of course, but since it is available at bargain prices, old film buffs will certainly get their money's worth if they take the time to seek it out and watch it.

Girls are going missing and a DA and veteran cop team up to expose the rackets that are set up to lure young girls in to a life of shame.This film is more a curiosity than anything. My guess it was cheaply made and ran on the exploitation circuit for years. The music isn't even stock music, but is supplied by an organ that pumps out bridges between scenes.How best to describe this movie? Its the type of movie that insomniacs prayed not to find on the Late Late Show because it was just interesting enough to keep them awake while it un-spooled. It wasn't good enough to actually wake them up, but it wasn't bad enough to put them out, rather its a film of the twilight between asleep and awake. I'm of a similar mind, its not bad, but its not good. Its the sort of thing that just is. If you should run across it on TV you might want to try it, but I can't suggest searching it out.5 out of 10