Some things I liked some I did not.

Nice effects though.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

A Lake Placid skiing trip ends poorly for gold-digging Kay Francis (as Grace Herbert) when she fails to obtain any money from handsome young Kane Richmond (as Don). Wise-cracking companion Margaret Hamilton (as Josie) advises Ms. Francis to give up her routine of obtaining financial settlements from wealthy playboys. The women go to Miami and meet curvy young Mildred Coles (as Ellen Daley). Realizing her age is no longer an asset, Francis teaches Ms. Coles the "escort" profession. Complications occur when Coles shows real interest in handsome cowboy James Ellison (as Thomas "Tom" Dice)...This appears to be a cleaned-up story about upper-class prostitution, topped off with an unanswered question about the relationship between Francis and Ms. Hamilton. It's very allegorical, consisting of $50,000 kisses planted with all the passion of a grandmother. Doubtful such exchanges would result in either the cash or scandal insinuated. Nicely playing her age, Francis and director Frank Woodruff make it work. Hamilton is great. Nigel Bruce (as William McDonald Vincent) amuses as a Chicago native who picked up an accent abroad. And, Katharine Alexander (as Mrs. Dice) helps during a pivotal scene.****** Play Girl (1/29/41) Frank Woodruff ~ Kay Francis, James Ellison, Mildred Coles, Nigel Bruce, Margaret Hamilton

Kay Francis made her last movie under contract for Warners in 1939 and the last years had been one humiliation after another. By the end of 1940 she had flitted between Universal and RKO, each film a little worse than the one before. All through this she was having a ghastly affair with an alleged German aircraft manufacturer, Baron Barnekow and the gossip columnists were at pains to point out Kay's advancing age!!! To top it all Kay was forced to accept pictures like "Play Girl" about an ageing gold-digger who has a showdown at the end with a potential groom's mother, who points out - "He could be your own son Grace" and "You're two years older than me you know". Well may Kay lament (as she does in the movie) "It's tough to be a woman"!!!You often read where Kay never looked her best in these later movies but I thought she looked positively radiant as Grace Herbert, an older gold-digger fallen on hard times. A young girl, Ellen (Mildred Coles, who finished her sparse career in Westerns) has applied for a job as Grace's secretary, but Grace finds her innocent and conscientious and also finds potential. She will make a new girl of her, she can be her age, have fun and earn money at the same time.First "cab off the rank" is Bill (Nigel Bruce) an old flame of Graces. Kay shows she has a real flair for comedy as she and Ellen rehearse what Ellen will say and how Bill will respond. Kay is "spot on" in her biting imitation of his remarks - "not got lumbago - well, all the best doctors must be wrong then hahaha"!! that when Bill is actually playing the scene it falls quite flat. While Ellen gets into the swing of it, she has already lost her heart to Tom (Jim Ellison, also from Westerns), a cowboy, who helped them fix a flat tyre when they were on the road. Because he jumped from the train, Grace dismisses him as just a cowboy but when it turns out that he is a millionaire, suddenly Ellen doesn't find gold digging fun anymore.I really enjoyed it - reading that it was a comedy, I thought could Kay do it - but she did with flying colours. Bill's mother (Katherine Alexander) and Grace become friends and the film ends with Grace happily getting ready to meet an uncle of Bill's, someone who is going to put an end to her "play girl" days. Margaret Hamilton was good as Grace's cynical friend and good old Kane Richmond had rather a small part as a suitor who is not what he appears.

Play Girl, made in 1940 shortly before America entered World War II, is a film that looks back to Depression era films. An aging "gold-digger" Grace (Kay Francis), realizes that she's too old (over 30) to hoodwink vain older men. She takes on a destitute nineteen-year-old Ellen (Mildred Coles), and grooms her to be her successor. But Ellen turns out to be a good girl after all, and falls for a young cowboy named Tom, leading to a predictably happy ending. The economically precarious life of unmarried women lurks beneath the film's labored humor. I was struck by the vulnerability of the three women (Margaret Hamilton plays Josie, Grace's maid--a failed maternal figure to both the younger women). Fortunately for the women like the ones in this film, there would be plenty of war work available soon enough. They could earn an honest living and acquire decent job skills while the men fought overseas. In the regressive fifties, films like Diamonds are a Girl's Best Friend would bring back the old gold-digger theme, but the women in the later film have a toughness and self-reliance (after all, Marilyn Monroe was discovered working at a munitions factory) that even the sleek Grace can't quite manage. Grace, in a plot twist, goes after Tom and gets a visit from Tom's mother. Like Grace, she's an elegantly dressed older woman who gently puts Grace's feet in the fire. This woman's film is so much about the predicament of aging and marginalized women. It's fitting that Kay Francis, whose studio was desperate to get rid of her, played Grace. She was always a class act.

Realizing that her days attracting wealthy suitors are numbered, sophisticated social climber Kay Francis decides to utilize the charms of a 19 year old innocent (Mildred Coles) in order to continue her wealthy lifestyle. She passes Coles off on elderly Nigel Bruce, a man obviously in his 60's who claims to be 39. Bruce showers Coles with furs and jewelry, but at Kay's urging, Coles pretends to make Bruce think she wants to marry him, something he is totally against. This leads to a settlement out of court to avoid a public scandal (something Ms. Francis's character was notorious for) and sends Coles onto Francis's next victim (G.P. Huntley). But Coles has fallen for James Ellison, whom she, Francis and the maid (a hysterical Margaret Hamilton) had earlier encountered while traveling. Ellison turns out to be wealthy himself, a breeder of horses, not the trainer the trio of women had thought he was. Coles suddenly gets a case of a guilt complex when Ellison brings up marriage and disappears. This puts Francis on the pounce to get Ellison for herself, but when Ellison's mama (Katherine Alexander) shows up and is revealed to be near Kay's age, Ms. Francis has an attack of conscience herself.Free from her mistreatment at Warner Brothers, Kay moved onto freelance during the last quarter of her film career. This is an rare enjoyable foray into comedy for the notorious clothes horse who looks "wavishing" (as her wisecracking descentors would say, imitating her charming speech impediment) and gets to utilize some fun wisecracks along the way. Nigel Bruce gets the best material for the men, while the others are overshadowed by the women. However, the best notice I must give goes to that "Wizard of Oz" witch Margaret Hamilton who gets to make a crack about "riding on air" that sounds like a pre-quel to "defying gravity". She has never been so free in films to let loose with her comedic talents, and comes closer to being like Mary Wickes here than her usually sour-pussed gossipy old maids. The scene towards the end between Francis and Alexander is nicely written and has a beautiful pay-off.My biggest gripe comes from the use of the social columns who apparently are on to the foils of the two gold diggers. It seems rather forced to believe that the newspapers would pick up the activities of two non-celebrities who are doin' what comes naturally for single women in pre-war America.