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Playing Around
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Wikipedia article
'Playing Around' is a 1930 American pre-Code drama film with songs, starring Alice White, Chester Morris and William Bakewell. It was adapted from the story "Sheba", written by Via Delmar. The film was produced and distributed by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros.
Plot
Alice White plays the part of a working class girl who dreams about living a life of luxury. Her father, Richard Carlyle, runs a cigar store while White works as a stenographer. William Bakewell, a soda jerker, is madly in love with White and has even asked her father for his consent to their marriage. Although Carlyle likes Bakewell and would like to see her daughter marry him, White refuses to consider marrying him on the wage he currently earns. One day, White convinces Bakewell to take her to a fancy exclusive nightclub. Once they arrive and are seated, Bakewell is shocked at the prices and suggests that they go elsewhere. This leads to an argument with White. As the couple is about to leave, an announcement is made for a leg contest and White decides to enter. She wins first place and is awarded her prize by Chester Morris, a gangster. Dazzled by his fancy clothes and car, White accepts his attentions and give Bakewell the air.
Eventually Morris asks White to marry him, but before they tie the knot, Morris, who is low on cash, robs a cigar store and in the process shoots the man behind the counter. Without knowing it, he has shot White's father. As White and Morris are about to head out for another night on the town now that they have money, they stop at her father's cigar store to say hello. As they approach they see police stationed around and Morris realizes what he has done. He convinces White to stay in the car while he checks out what happened. He talks a bit to the police and then tells White that her father is ok and that he now at the police station to help the police identify a thief. In reality, however White's father is at the hospital suffering from a gunshot wound that Morris gave him. Morris convinces White to continue on their date and they drive to the club, but Bakewell, who suspects that Morris was behind the robbery, asks the police to help him entrap Morris. They manage to get Morris to unwittingly to confess to the crime and convince him to skip town, but they arrest him before he has a chance to board the train. Morris is taken to jail and White's father recovers. White, humbled by the experience, agrees to marry Bakewell.
Cast
* Alice White as Sheba Miller
* Chester Morris as Nickey Solomon
* William Bakewell as Jack
* Richard Carlyle as Pa Miller
* Marion Byron as Maude
* Maurice Black as Joe
* Lionel Belmore as Morgan
* Shep Camp as Master of Ceremonies
* Ann Brody as Mrs. Fennerbeck
* George 'Gabby' Hayes as Western Union Clerk
Songs
* "You Learn About Love Every Day" ('Theme Song; Sung by Alice White and unidentified tenor.')
* "You're My Captain Kidd"
* "That's the Lowdown on the Lowdown"
* "Playing Around"
Preservation
'Playing Around' survives intact in the Turner Entertainment library.[https://archive.org/details/mediahistory&tab=collection?and%5B%5D=subject%3A%22Motion%20pictures%20--%20Catalogues%22 1957 MOVIES FROM AAP Warner Bros Features & Cartoons SALES BOOK DIRECTED AT TV] Also preserved in the Library of Congress collection.'Catalog of Holdings The American Film Institute Collection and The United Artists Collection at The Library of Congress', (<-book title) p.142 by the American Film Institute
References
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