I wanted to but couldn't!

Absolutely Brilliant!

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

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

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.

I think Kay Francis is an acquired taste that I am still acquiring. This film is not a great vehicle, but oddly, I liked Kay in this role better than I do most of her films. Her character is usually very long- suffering. But here she plays "Grace." She is an aging gold-digger rapidly reaching the point of no-return, and she realizes it. Yet she doesn't respond with melodrama, but with a plan to sponsor a protégé, passing on her "wisdom" in exchange for a share of the young woman's "earnings." Despite the rather seamy subject matter, however, this film and Francis' role are both much lighter than most of her vehicles.It provides a very predictable, formulaic plot and very few laughs. But the two best scenes are humorous, even if not hilarious, and make this film worth seeing. Early in the film, Grace is coaching her protégé, Ellen, before her first date with her first "mark," Nigel Bruce. It is as if they are rehearsing a play, with Kay assuming Nigel's role. In her coaching, she not only anticipates every line, verbatim, that he later uses for real, but she gives a very funny imitation of Bruce's very distinctive British accent.In a later scene in a steam bath, Bruce assumes Kay's persona in describing to another intended "mark" how the two women fleeced him in Chicago. Straight into the camera, he quotes Kay as she had addressed him: "If you want to make her vewy, vewy happy, get her a mink coat." I wondered whether it was an ad lib or it was scripted. But what I really wondered was how Kay, herself, took the spoof. Her difficulty pronouncing the letter, "R," was legendary. Yet she seems so upbeat in this movie that it leaves the impression that she must have been a good sport about it.I fault the ending not because it was a fairy-tale wrap-up, but because it was abrupt and rather disjointed. The central focus of the movie is the romance between Tom and Ellen, but the central character is Grace. When the movie ended with the off-screen reconciliation of Tom and Ellen, and Grace's anticipating a happy ending with a completely unknown man, I felt like I had been deprived of seeing the resolution of either the film's central story or its central character.The character of Tom's uncle should have been a larger role, bringing him into a slowly growing relationship with Kay. After all, she spends most of her time lounging around in a negligee while Ellen and her beaus are out on the town. Giving the uncle a larger, continuous presence would have provided greater continuity and a nice sub-plot. As it is, Kay's presumptive happy ending is diminished, since it is with a virtual non-entity. We have seen him only once in the early part of the film, riding in a boxcar with Tom and some horses to Chicago. I don't recall whether he even has any lines. In the end, we never see him. He's in the lobby of Kay's apartment while she delightedly prepares to meet her "last" man. Neither one is apparently even on the other's radar screen. I would have liked that relationship to have been developed for the fairy-tale. I also wanted to see Tom and Ellen reconciled in person. These changes might have resulted in a non-musical romantic comedy in the mode of the Fred Astaire-Ginger Rogers/Edward Everett Horton-Helen Broderick foursome in some of the Astaire-Rogers films. It would have been far more satisfying and really improved this film.

Warner Brothers continued its campaign to get Kay Francis to break her contract not just by lowering the quality of her vehicles, not just by loading her dialogue with 'r's or putting her in horse operas, but now by lending her out to other studios. She was the highest-priced actress on the Warner's lot and they didn't want her any more. But she was not going to give up that contract.In this lend-out to RKO, Miss Francis, as usual, gives a wonderful performance. In fact, given the cast of minor players -- including a few long-time favorites of mine like Nigel Bruce and Kane Richmond -- and they give fine performances too, even if we are expected to believe Mr. Bruce hails from Chicago, in this minor comedy. It's about a professional adventuress who is getting a lot too old to play wealthy men for suckers. It's a little slow-starting, but by the half-way mark, it is moving along at a good clip. Definitely worth your while.