The various strands of this movie, each satisfactory in itself, do not blend well together.
Ann and Lucille both work in the same hotel, as public stenographer and telephonist respectively. They share an apartment and regularly date men to get a free meal –sometimes having to walk home. This is Warner Bros 'gold digger' territory, usually inhabited by Joan Blondell or Una Merkel, but here adequately covered by Lola Lane and Esther Muir.
The 'serious' element of the plot concerns the efforts of a shady firm of engineering contractors, Hendricks and White, to beat their upright competitors, Martin and Son, to public contracts by fair means or foul (preferably foul).
Ann meets Jimmy Martin, and there ensues a battle of the sexes of the knockabout kind usually associated with screwball comedies.
The mood however suddenly turns to emotional drama when it appears that Jimmy has departed for Cincinnati to wed a society girl, and this after having spent the night with Ann.
To avenge her friend, Lucille sells her shorthand notebooks, containing details of the Martins' business, to Hendricks and White. When Jimmy returns to marry Ann, the two girls have to take drastic steps to recover the notebooks.
The mixture of genres makes for an uneven film.
The Alpha DVD of this film is watchable, but both video and sound show the age of the material. Curiously, it bills Duncan Renaldo as Lane's co-star. This appears to be a mistake as to who played the role of Jimmy, or it might reflect the fact that Renaldo went on to great success as the Cisco Kid, while Collier retired the following year, having been in films from the age of 14.
Ann and Lucille both work in the same hotel, as public stenographer and telephonist respectively. They share an apartment and regularly date men to get a free meal –sometimes having to walk home. This is Warner Bros 'gold digger' territory, usually inhabited by Joan Blondell or Una Merkel, but here adequately covered by Lola Lane and Esther Muir.
The 'serious' element of the plot concerns the efforts of a shady firm of engineering contractors, Hendricks and White, to beat their upright competitors, Martin and Son, to public contracts by fair means or foul (preferably foul).
Ann meets Jimmy Martin, and there ensues a battle of the sexes of the knockabout kind usually associated with screwball comedies.
The mood however suddenly turns to emotional drama when it appears that Jimmy has departed for Cincinnati to wed a society girl, and this after having spent the night with Ann.
To avenge her friend, Lucille sells her shorthand notebooks, containing details of the Martins' business, to Hendricks and White. When Jimmy returns to marry Ann, the two girls have to take drastic steps to recover the notebooks.
The mixture of genres makes for an uneven film.
The Alpha DVD of this film is watchable, but both video and sound show the age of the material. Curiously, it bills Duncan Renaldo as Lane's co-star. This appears to be a mistake as to who played the role of Jimmy, or it might reflect the fact that Renaldo went on to great success as the Cisco Kid, while Collier retired the following year, having been in films from the age of 14.
