Tonight's Movie: Playgirl (1954) at the Noir City Film Festival

One of my favorite films at the recent Noir City Film Festival was PLAYGIRL (1954), a Universal Pictures film which hadn't been screened theatrically in decades.

PLAYGIRL was shown in a 2K restoration as part of a double bill with HELL'S HALF ACRE (1954), which incidentally costarred Nancy Gates, who had passed on just a few days previously.

The evening was made extra-special by the appearance of PLAYGIRL star Colleen Miller. She was not interviewed but received enthusiastic applause from the audience. It was especially exciting for me to see her as Miller appeared in THE LAS VEGAS STORY (1952) with Victor Mature and Jane Russell, as well as the terrific Rory Calhoun Western FOUR GUNS TO THE BORDER (1954).

It was lovely that Victor Mature's daughter Victoria was also on hand to meet the costar of one of her father's films. THE LAS VEGAS STORY was Colleen's first movie.

My photos were shot in a hurry and are fairly dark, but in the interest of sharing what I have, here are photos of Colleen with the Film Noir Foundation's Alan K. Rode:

In PLAYGIRL Colleen plays Phyllis Matthews, who arrives in New York from the Midwest in search of a career and a more exciting life. Hometown friend Fran Davis (Shelley Winters), a nightclub singer and veteran of NYC living, welcomes Phyllis as a roommate and shows her the ropes.

Phyllis quickly finds success as a model working for magazine publisher Mike Marsh (Barry Sullivan), but trouble brews when the unhappily married Marsh, who's been stringing Fran along as his mistress, is clearly attracted to Phyllis.

For her part, Phyllis falls for Tom (Gregg Palmer), another magazine employee who happens to be Fran's neighbor. There's a cute scene where Fran introduces Phyllis to Tom as they chat through a dumbwaiter shaft; Alan Rode later said that Miller was tickled to see the scene again and whispered "Watch this!"

Trouble with Mike, Fran, and a gun leave Phyllis's career and love life in a shambles...

This is a very entertaining 85 minutes, with the cast also including Richard Long and Kent Taylor as ne'er-do-wells hanging around the fringes of society.

Winters is her usual over-the-top self, enjoying some flashy screen time including a drunk scene and performing the songs "Lie to Me Baby" and "There'll Be Some Changes Made." Her character's outcome had the feeling of being shoehorned in; I suspect the original ending may have been somewhat different, but it's not a big deal.

Miller is lovely and charming as the somewhat naive yet confident Phyllis. Sullivan's character is revealed to be a bit of a sleaze, but it's the kind of character he does so well!

PLAYGIRL is one of those films which may not be great drama yet is completely entertaining. I had a good time watching it and would enjoy seeing it again in the future.

PLAYGIRL was directed by Joseph Pevney, who helmed so many Universal Pictures films I've enjoyed at film noir festivals in the last few years. It was filmed in black and white by Carl E. Guthrie.

This film is not available on DVD or Blu-ray. Let's hope it eventually makes it to DVD and can be enjoyed by a wider audience.