Party Girl

This is one of many immoral pre-code films in which graced the 'late night screening' at theaters. It is not considered the best of the pre-code era, due to being one of the earliest (along with The Divorcee) and therefore having some sound difficulties, as the 'talkies' were still a recent milestone. It also was produced by Poverty Row studio, an almost unheard of company from the 'Golden Age' of cinema.

This film was banned in the UK until 2003, even though it was first made in 1930. 

The synopsis is as follows:
 Jay Rountree, son of a wealthy manufacturer and young, rising businessman, gets caught up in a web involving an escort service or 'party girls.' While eluding the wily Diana Holster, the self-proclaimed Queen of the Party Girls, he manages to get trapped in a web spun by Leeda Cather and her supposed mother and, much to his consternation and to the surprise of his fiancée, Jay soon finds himself an unhappily married man. And, as events would show, Diana isn't all that happy, herself.


This film even though being immoral to the core, and making little attempt to hide the fact that these 'party girls' are in fact prostitutes, had a warning prologue advising those of how such themes explored in the movie are of a corrupt nature and make innocent girls bad. The warning ends with a foreboding statement that the next innocent girl gone bad, could be your daughter!

Some reviews for this film include:

" The acting is unbelievably bad, with Fairbanks jnr being particularly atrocious. And the dialogue is cringe-inducing. In spite of this (or possibly because of this), Party Girl is wonderfully entertaining. The Art Deco interiors and the gorgeous women’s costumes certainly help. This is very much a Jazz Age movie. If your idea of a good time is lots of bathtub gin, wild parties and loose women, this is a movie for you"- Classic Movie Ramblings 

"It’s very much in the style of the classic American exploitation movie, ostensibly condemning some deadly threat to public morals but actually being very much on the side of wickedness. These party girls are not just shamelessly debauched, they’re enjoying every minute of it"- Classic Movie Ramblings

"...this is a pleasant diversion that pushes the envelope even for pre-Code Hollywood.." - IMDb

I originally chose this as one of my focus films, however, found that The Divorcee was better suited for many reasons; such as how it was one of the kick-started of pre-code films of this kind. Therefore Party Girl will be one of my supporting items, as it still pushes the boundaries of pre-code cinema and epitomizes obscenity and corruption within the liberation of woman and sex and hiw they are represented in Hollywood film in the early 30s.