Tonight's Movie: City Girl (1938) at Cinecon

One of the most interesting "B" films shown at last weekend's Cinecon Classic Film Festival was CITY GIRL (1938), a 63-minute "B" film from 20th Century Fox.

The title role was played by Phyllis Brooks, who I noted sounded curiously rather like Jean Arthur.

I'll mention at the outset that I'm going to share quite a bit of the plot, as part of what's interesting about this movie is how much of an action-packed story it jams into a little over an hour. 

Brooks plays Ellen, a diner waitress who turns down a date with her longtime boyfriend Don (Robert Wilcox), a lawyer just starting his career, in order to go out with hoodlums Ritchie (Douglas Fowley) and Mike (Chick Chandler), along with Mike's girlfriend Flo (Esther Muir).

Ellen doesn't initially realize Ritchie and Mike are crooks, but the men rob a gas station that evening while they're on the date! Ellen drops her purse at the crime scene but convinces the police she was an innocent bystander. Instead of learning from the experience, Ellen digs in deeper with the criminal element and agrees to go out again with Ritchie and Mike; she then attracts the attention of crime boss Charles Blake (Ricardo Cortez).

Ellen may have a sweet appearance, but she wants the "finer things in life" instead of waiting for Don to move up in his career. She's happy to receive gifts she shouldn't accept from the men who will provide them.

Blake's mistress Vivian (Adrienne Ames) doesn't take kindly to her lover's interest in Ellen, leading to a confrontation in which Ellen accidentally shoots and kills Vivian.

Ellen is convicted of murder but broken out of prison by Blake. The getaway car, however, ends up in a fiery crash and Ellen's face must be repaired with plastic surgery.

After a lengthy recovery, Ellen dyes her hair brown and goes to work infiltrating the work of Ralph Chaney (Paul Stanton), who is investigating organized crime. Ellen's ex Don is, naturally, one of Chaney's assistants...

As can be seen, quite a lot happens in a little over an hour! The screenplay was written by Frances Hyland, Lester Ziffren, and Robin Harris based on their story; the movie may not be completely probable, but it's quite entertaining, with interesting characters in a story which seems to get wilder the longer it goes.

The plastic surgery angle, with Ellen operated on by a non-specialist doctor (Charles Lane), particularly stretches credulity, but as with several plot elements from these late '30s movies, that story point would be revived again in a later film, in this case Humphrey Bogart in DARK PASSAGE (1947).

I was rather expecting that eventually Ellen would reform, along the lines of Robert Montgomery's crook in HIDE-OUT (1934), but that film was just barely into the Code era and perhaps crime could be forgiven a little more easily then, with a brief jail sentence. In both CITY GIRL and another film seen at the fest, GANGS OF CHICAGO (1940), the "crime does not pay" message was drilled into audiences in each film's final moments.

Cortez was always good as kind of an elegant slimeball, including in one of my favorite pre-Codes, MIDNIGHT MARY (1933). The next year he also began directing, starting off with INSIDE STORY (1939), which I also saw at the festival. Curiously, Phyllis Brooks refused to work with him again on INSIDE STORY and went on suspension.

Brooks captures Ellen's odd mix of naivete and uncaring greed, ready to leave behind a handsome fiance on his way up in order to obtain immediate luxuries. Things matter more to Ellen than people, and the people who can provide the nice things matter more to her than people who can't.

Several CITY GIRL cast members were also in INSIDE STORY, including Douglas Fowley, Chick Chandler, Irving Bacon, and Charles Lane. Cast members Lynn Bari and John King were also seen in SHARPSHOOTERS (1938) on the same day at Cinecon.

One of the most memorable cast members in CITY GIRL is Marjorie Main as Ellen's slow-talking, sad, and unkempt mother. Her parents' poor tenement lifestyle is a key reason for Ellen wanting luxuries.

CITY GIRL was directed by Alfred L. Werker and filmed in black and white by Harry Jackson.

CITY GIRL has no connection with the 1930 film of the same name, which starred Charles Farrell and Mary Duncan.

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