By Frank Miller
These Glamour Girls
Brief Synopsis
A drunken college boy invites a taxi dancer to spend the weekend at his snobbish school.
Cast & Crew
Read More
S. Sylvan Simon
Director
Lew Ayres
Philip S. Griswold
Lana Turner
Jane Thomas
Tom Brown
Homer Ten Eyck
Richard Carlson
Joe
Jane Bryan
Carol Christy
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Drama
Release Date
Aug
18,
1939
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "These Glamour Girls," by Jane Hall in Hearst's International-Cosmpolitan (publication date undertermined).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 19m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Synopsis
The telephone lines of members of the New York social register are buzzing as their debutante daughters discuss the forthcoming house party at prestigious Kingsford College. On the weekend before the big party, Kingsford dandy Philip S. Griswold, the son of a wealthy Wall Street broker, and his college roommates, Homer Ten Eyck and Greg Smith, visit New York City where Phil becomes drunk and invites dime-a-dance hostess Jane Thomas to the party. Jane eagerly accepts, causing Phil some embarassment when she appears at the Kingsford train station along with his girlfriend, Carol Christy. Jane is about to return home in disgrace when Blimpy, a Kingsford collegiate who believes that she is a member of the Philadelphia social set, asks her to be his date. After Blimpy snubs Jane when he learns that she comes from a Kansas farm and not Philadelphia society, however, Phil asks her to stay. As Phil dances with Jane, Carol dances with Joe, one of Kinsgford's less fortunate students who must work his way through school. During the dance, Carol confesses to Joe that she is seeing Phil for his money because her father has lost the family fortune, and Phil confesses to Jane that he feels unfulfilled by his life. The next morning, Daphne Graves, a spiteful deb, prods Phil and Carol into announcing their engagement, prompting the despondent Jane and Joe to leave the party. Meanwhile, Betty Ainsbrudge, who is slightly older than the rest of the girls, overhears the debs deriding her as a hanger-on and, desperate to be accepted, tries to persuade the drunken Homer to marry her. She almost succeeds until he sobers up and refuses to go through with the ceremony. Depressed, Betty commits suicide by stalling her car on the railroad tracks. The glamourous life of the upper crust reveals yet another crack when Phil's father is indicted for fraud, thus forcing Phil to recognize the superficial values of those around him and realize his love for Jane.
Director
S. Sylvan Simon
Director
Cast
Lew Ayres
Philip S. Griswold
Lana Turner
Jane Thomas
Tom Brown
Homer Ten Eyck
Richard Carlson
Joe
Jane Bryan
Carol Christy
Anita Louise
Daphne Graves
Marsha Hunt
Betty Ainsbrudge
Ann Rutherford
Mary Rose Wilston
Mary Beth Hughes
Ann
Owen Davis Jr.
Greg Smith
Sumner Getchell
"Blimpy"
Peter Hayes
Skel
Don Castle
Jack
Tom Collins
Tommy Torgler
Ernest Truex
Alumnus
Henry Kolker
Mr. Griswold
Tom Kennedy
Bouncer
Nella Walker
Mrs. Christy
Dale Fellows
Baritone singer of "Loveliness"
Crew
Chet Forrest
Composer
Cedric Gibbons
Art Director
Alfred Gilks
Director of Photography
Jane Hall
Screenwriter
Wally Heglin
Vocal and orch Arrangements
Harold F. Kress
Film Editor
Harry Mcafee
Art Director Associate
Marion Parsonnet
Screenwriter
Douglas Shearer
Recording Director
David Snell
Music Score
Walter Strohm
Assistant Director
Dolly Tree
Wardrobe
Dorothy Ward
Dance stand-in for Lana Turner
Edward Ward
Composer
Edward Ward
Music Score
Edwin B. Willis
Set Decoration
Bob Wright
Composer
Sam Zimbalist
Producer
Videos
Trailer
Hosted Intro
Film Details
Genre
Comedy
Drama
Release Date
Aug
18,
1939
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Corp.
Distribution Company
Loew's Inc.
Country
United States
Screenplay Information
Based on the short story "These Glamour Girls," by Jane Hall in Hearst's International-Cosmpolitan (publication date undertermined).
Technical Specs
Duration
1h 19m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Articles
These Glamour Girls
There's something light and sweetly appealing about Lana Turner in her earliest MGM films, particularly when she's cast as a girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Before the studio swathed her in glamour, they cast her in this likable social satire as a taxi dancer invited to a big college party by drunken playboy Lew Ayres. What starts as a cruel joke, turns into true love when Ayres finds there's more to her than most of the high society beauties he's supposed to be dating. Since Turner wasn't a big marquee name yet, MGM matched her with a quartet of female co-stars who all add to the film's luster. Jane Bryan (on loan from Warner Bros.) is Ayres's society sweetheart, ready to give up her family's wealth for working-class student Richard Carlson. Ann Rutherford of the Andy Hardy films is a debutante who gets dumped by her date. Anita Louise is the resident mean girl out to make trouble any way she can. And Marsha Hunt, in one of her favorite roles, provides the heavy dramatics as a young woman considered over the hill at 20. Within a few years, Turner would move up to star status, leaving little time for ensemble pieces like this. But while it lasted, she helped bring a youthful buoyancy to MGM's films that's hard to resist.
By Frank Miller
By Frank Miller
These Glamour Girls
There's something light and sweetly appealing about Lana Turner in her earliest MGM films, particularly when she's cast as a girl from the wrong side of the tracks. Before the studio swathed her in glamour, they cast her in this likable social satire as a taxi dancer invited to a big college party by drunken playboy Lew Ayres. What starts as a cruel joke, turns into true love when Ayres finds there's more to her than most of the high society beauties he's supposed to be dating. Since Turner wasn't a big marquee name yet, MGM matched her with a quartet of female co-stars who all add to the film's luster. Jane Bryan (on loan from Warner Bros.) is Ayres's society sweetheart, ready to give up her family's wealth for working-class student Richard Carlson. Ann Rutherford of the Andy Hardy films is a debutante who gets dumped by her date. Anita Louise is the resident mean girl out to make trouble any way she can. And Marsha Hunt, in one of her favorite roles, provides the heavy dramatics as a young woman considered over the hill at 20. Within a few years, Turner would move up to star status, leaving little time for ensemble pieces like this. But while it lasted, she helped bring a youthful buoyancy to MGM's films that's hard to resist.
By Frank Miller
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
According to a news item in Hollywood Reporter, Jane Bryan was borrowed from Warner Bros. to appear in this film. Another news item in Hollywood Reporter adds that Dorothy Lovett was borrowed from RKO, but her appearance in the final film has not been confirmed.
