User Reviews

This was the second filming of George M. Cohan's 1926 comedy about Warren William inviting his long-time friend, Gene Lockhart, to be best man at his wedding. Lockhart perceives that his fiancée, June Travis, and her family are gold diggers taking William for a ride, so he proceeds to wreck the relationship. Gene Lockhart has the best role, the best lines and the best performance. The only trouble with the movie is that it takes too long for William to set Lockhart straight. It would have been a better movie if William tried more forcefully at first but failed because Lockhart constantly interrupted him. As it is, there are enough pauses to make me think he didn't try just to extend the running time, which is a short 62 minutes anyway. It's clearly director William McGann's fault. But Lockhart is great as the supreme conclusion jumper and buttinsky, and this movie is still much better than the 1940 remake. I'd love to see the first 1928 version, also a talkie.

You might notice a credit error: Craig Reynolds is credited onscreen with the character name of Joe Reynolds, but he is called Joe Roberts throughout the movie.

I imagine Warner Bros. thought titling the film "Times Square Playboy" with Warren William starring would bring in more business than the title of the play upon which the movie is based - the more aptly named "The Home Towners", and they were probably right.

You can tell that after the production code era began in 1934 Warner Bros. just didn't know what to do with Warren William. William plays a 40ish man of means, Vic Arnold, who invites an old hometown friend (Gene Lockhart as Ben Bancroft) to be best man at his wedding in New York City, which is where Vic has been living all of these years. This is more a story of city cousin/country cousin than anything else. When Ben first arrives in New York from his rural hometown he finds the whole thing exciting, but after he meets Vic's fiancée's brother, Ben gets the idea that Vic's fiancée is just marrying his friend for his money and the financial support she can get can for her entire family rather than for love. I found this part of the film hard to follow because I really didn't see anything in the action or speech of the brother-in-law-to-be that would suggest he or anyone else was gold digging.

The rest of the film is just about all of the trouble caused by some misspoken insulting words from Ben to Vic's fiancée's family, and quite frankly it seemed like much ado about nothing. Lockhart was good in this rare leading role, but the character was just too obnoxious and true to his nickname of "pig-head" to like, and Warren William was just too easy going about the whole thing. That's the problem with these first production code era high society comedies - the censors took away all of their ammo, rendering them unable to develop some interesting misunderstandings with punch, and it would be two or three years more before the movies could adapt to this very un-brave new world.

I like Warren William a great deal, and I highly suggest the movies he made during 1934 and before for a taste of him at his precode best, and I also recommend the films he did as the Lone Wolf at Columbia in the late 30's and early 40's, by which time Hollywood figured out how to convey the sophisticated sassiness of Warren William without crossing the censors. This one just disappoints on all elements of substance. I give it five stars for having great style but a story that misses the bullseye completely and wastes Warren William's talent.

One touch that I really liked: Barton MacLane, usually playing a bad guy, as Vic's not so gentle gentleman's gentleman.

I definitely agree that this picture was 'stolen" by Gene Lockhart. He is delightful as he storms around, ranting about how his buddy is about to be "taken" by the family of the woman he is going to marry. Lockhart's real life wife Kathleen plays his wife in the movie. Her acid tongued rejoinders to him are delightful. It was also a treat for me to see Barton MacLane in a role where he is not some kind of bad guy. It's a real change of pace for him and he handles it very well. There's not much plot to this film, no criminals or thugs, but it is a nice, simple story of two life long friends and how they resolve a major misunderstanding. At 62 minutes it moves quickly and the viewer won't become bored.

The nominal star attraction of "Times Square Playboy" is Warren William, but it's clear even before the halfway point that the real leading actor in this comedy of misunderstandings is Gene Lockhart, who gives a tour de force performance as a small town Joe Average who jumps to ill-informed conclusions when he and his wife come to New York City to attend the wedding of his oldest friend, business tycoon William.

Two other surprises in this 60-minute programmer are some moments of unfaked rough- housing by William and Barton MacLane (as his butler) and an extended one-take jogging scene in an actual park instead of a treadmill with back projection, which would have been more typical for a Warner Bros. cheapie of the period.

The plot, from a well-structured play by George M. Cohan, involves Lockhart's belief that the young cabaret singer William is engaged to marry (Jean Travis) is a golddigger whose family are cheats along for the ride to millions by marriage. Much farcical mayhem ensues. William gets to play a drunk scene, as he often does, and he does it as well as usual. But for sheer acting range it's Lockhart's picture.

"Times Square Playboy" is a Depression era comedy about the high life of the well-to-do. One notices that the company that Victor Arnold heads is a stock and bonds firm. This film came out less than seven years after the Wall Street collapse (October 1929) that began the Great Depression worldwide. Perhaps Hollywood was trying to send a message that things were once again healthy, or well on the way to recovery.

It was during this decade that many movies were stories about wealthy people who seemed not to have been hurt by the stock market crash. They were living the good life, especially the good night life. And, the early days of sound pictures seemed to have a fascination for New York City, Broadway and Times Square. Did the movies originate or fuel the myth that every small-town girl dreamed of escaping to the big city?

Most of the people going to the "pictures" in 1936 were in the working class. One wonders what the different thoughts might be when, in this film, the male lead buys a $40,000 bracelet for his fiancé. That would be nearly $740,000 in 2019. The average household income in the U.S. in 1936 was barely $1,000, compared to about $60,000 in 2019. So, that one bracelet then amounted to nearly a lifetime of work for the average working person.

Anyway, this is a comedy that stars some well-known actors of the day. Warren William and Gene Lockhart were seasoned film actors before this, and though William has the male lead, Lockhart has the dominant role here, with more film time. Indeed, this movie seems to be a showcase for Gene, who uses it well with displays of a range of behaviors and moods. He is on the verge of a breakdown, angry to the point of exploding. He is suspicious and amiable, and then rueful and sorry.

Lockhart plays P.H. Bancroft, a long-time best friend of Arnold's. His wife in real life, Kathleen Lockhart, plays his wife here. Lottie Bancroft has her fair share of screen time for some quality acting as well. The Arnold part is rather small for William, who usually had substantial leads. Of course, his physical workouts here detract from the acting, but look quite good as he wrestles, runs and does other workout routines with his butler, Casey (played by Barton MacLane). This reminds me of another comedy, "Hard to Get" of 1938 that stars Dick Powell and Olivia de Havilland. Charles Winninger plays her wealthy dad, Ben Richards, who has an array of physical asides with his valet and right hand man, Case, played by Melville Cooper.

The rest of the cast are fine. The screenplay seems choppy in places, and the technical quality isn't very good. The plot is familiar but has a nice twist. The story is just so-so, but those who enjoy older films should find this one palatable. Those who are hooked on the adrenalin flows in many modern films will probably be bored.

Wall Street tycoon Warren William is engaged to nightclub singer June Travis, so his oldest friend from Big Bend Indiana, Gene Lockhart, comes to town with his wife Kathleen Lockhart, to be best man. But Lockhart -- Gene, not Kathleen -- is suspicious of Miss Travis, and her family, and her ex-boyfriend. He quarrels with William, then the wedding is called off.

It's an ensemble piece, but Lockhart gets a rare chance to be the de facto lead, and does a decent job in this second-feature remake of 1928 THE HOME TOWNERS. It was based on a George M. Cohan play and directed for speed by William McGann. Like many a Warner B of this period, it's adequate without being memorable.

Really ? The film I watched was about a girl, who gets accused of chasing a rich guy for his money! It's actually a remake of shakespeare's "much ado about nothing". Vic and beth are getting married, and they have invited old friend bancroft to be the best man. Things are over-heard, things are said. Misunderstandings galore, which happens when one is soused. (do they say that anymore?) can they all make up and straighten things out in time for the wedding? Warren william was the lone wolf and philo vance for years, in addition to so many roles in between. Co-stars gene lockhart and june travis. I don't know much about travis, but honestly, everyone else in the film talks about her character... travis doesn't really have many lines. Lockhart was oscar nominated for algiers. William died pretty young, but left a fun collection of films for us to enjoy. It's entertaining, but nothing real special. And they must have come up with the title over a three martini lunch... doesn't really have much to do with the story. This shows on turner classics.

During the early 1930s, Warren William played the most interesting sleaze-ball characters. Most of them were selfish, amoral jerks...and he played them so well in films like "Employees Entrance", "The Mouthpiece", and "Skyscraper Souls". But after the production code was enacted in mid-1934, the sorts of roles William played were different. Gone was the amoral playboy...and, not surprisingly, his films were a bit blander. But of all of these films, "Times Square Playboy" is probably one of his worst. Part of it is because unlike his earlier films, Warren plays a much more passive and less interesting sort of guy...so much so that the lead, by default, really is Gene Lockhart. And that brings up the second problem. While Lockhart was a good actor, his part was awfully written and didn't make a lot of sense.

When the story begins, Vic (William) contacts his old friend, 'Pig Head' (Lockhart) to invite him to New York City for his upcoming wedding. Pig Head and his wife are thrilled to see Vic after all these years...but Pig Head's excitement is muted when he and Vic go out for a night on the town. During this night out, he meets the bride-to-be's brother as well as, briefly, the bride-to-be. After barely knowing these people, Pig Head determines that they all want to take advantage of Vic and are a family of sponges. He makes the mistake of telling Vic...and soon all sorts of chaos results. And, true to his nickname, he really IS a pig headed guy and won't back down from his very premature pronouncement.

The problem with Lockhart's character is that the film never gave him the chance to form any sort of opinion about anyone! He literally just met two of the folks and announced that ALL the family was trying to take advantage of Vic! Had the script allowed the family to say and do more that MIGHT indicate malice and let things happened more naturally, it might have worked. It felt like the film was missing a reel here....Pig Head's angry outburst about the folks made THAT little sense. In fact, it was so bad that it completely ruined the film.

This is the sort of rare movie I like to see turn up. It isn't hilarious. It isn't a film noir -- and when a new noir turns up I get very excited.

But here we have Warren William, never my favorite, doing a bang-up job.

His character has fallen for a nightclub singer. She has a large family, who seem to be involved in his life too. Enter his friend from times gone by: "Pig Head" Bancroft. He is to be best man at the wedding.

Pig Head sizes this crew up on his own. Let's say he adds two and two and comes up with four and a half. It's great fun seeing things resolve themselves.

This is not a cast of big names. It's a lot of character actors. And they do a splendid job!

Vic Arnold (Warren William) is a big-shot New York City stockbroker. He announces his engagement to Beth Calhoun (June Travis). He invites his home town friend Ben "Pig Head" Bancroft (Gene Lockhart) and his wife Lottie to the big city. Ben is to be his best man. Wally Calhoun (Dick Purcell) is Vic's college football buddy and Beth's brother. Ben suspects that the Calhouns are coming after Vic's money.

This is based on a play. As a comedy, it's not actually funny. The drama doesn't allow it to be funny. Ben earns his Pig Head nickname, but he's not funny doing it. I do like the mix of characters with the big city folks and the small town hicks. It's trying to be funny and it's just not. Everybody is too angry.

One critic wrote, "it's fifteen minutes for sure before there's an inkling of what the story's about." That's one of the elements that makes it so good: you can't figure it out. This is not formula, but a tightly written play from George M Cohan. The second scene has a clichéd conversation between two characters. Later, one player takes the chat and puts a totally negative spin on it. The other actors argue that everything he interpreted is opposite from the truth. This is like a good courtroom drama. Other elements that make it great are Gene Lockhart and Bart MacLane at their best. The comedy is funny, especially when Lockhart gets apoplectic. It has slapstick, and proves that a wrestling move taught in act 1 must be used in act 3. True screwball, the best of all movie genres.

Times Square Playboy (1936)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Charming, if incredibly routine and predictable tale from Warner has country boy Vic Arnold (Warren William) making it big in the city and about to marry a stage star (June Travis) but their relationship hits the rocks when the best man (Gene Lockhart), also a country boy, shows up and thinks his friend is being taken advantage of. TIMES SQUARE PLAYBOY probably would have worked better had it been made during the pre-code era because it could have allowed some of the situations to be more frank and open. For a comedy there aren't too many laughs to be had here but I think the cast makes it worth sitting through and the 62-minute running time goes by without any slow paces. I think the best thing going for the film are its performances but the real standout is Lockhart who plays a major idiot who is constantly saying the wrong things. There's a sequence where he goes off on all the city people in his friend's life and the fast, maniac style that the actor does here is quite amusing and you'll be wanting to punch him in the nose by the time it's over. William could play this type of role in his sleep and he too does a nice job here as does Travis as the bride to be. Dick Purcell adds nice support and Kathleen Lockhart does a good job with her husband. The biggest thing working against the film is that not enough of the laughs work and I'd also say that the material is way too predictable for its own good. The fast paced nature of the attempted jokes will remind people of the type of screwball comedies that would be so popular in the 1940s.

You can't go wrong with Warren Williams and Mr. Lockhart. A terrific movie with a great plot and fine acting by all participants. I enjoyed seeing New York as it was in 1933 a beautiful, livable city. Warren Williams is always at his best when he is playing a man fully in charge of his own destiny. And that's exactly what happens in this fine motion picture.

I'm very happy to have this movie uncensored in my 3000 DVD/Blu-ray collection.

Pitched about ten decibels too high as though that makes the lame material funnier, the shouted dialog from Vic (William) and Ban (Lockhart) had me reaching for earmuffs. That might be okay if there were enough comedy to relieve the aural assault. But there isn't. Then too the storyline is flat and repetitive, about a mix-up between Vic's best man Ban and his fiancee's family, putting them at loggerheads. Meanwhile, the mix-ups bounce around like pinballs with about that much credibility. The most interesting part is the mock wrestling between "butler" Casey (MacLane) and his uptown employer Vic. Seems Casey is also Vic's physical trainer, a good amusing touch. There's also a promising subplot of big city vs. small town that unfortunately goes under-developed. Fortunately, the movie does have the great Warren William—the main reason I tuned in. Plus, he gets a chance to play outside his usual high-class schemer roles. I'm just sorry that overall the material and direction add up to an over-the-top disappointment.