Three Girls About Town (1941)

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Faith, Hope and Charity motivate the wacky storyline of Columbia's Three Girls About Town--or to be more exact, gorgeous sisters Faith, Hope and Charity Banner, played respectively by Binnie Barnes, Joan Blondell and Janet Blair. Faith and Hope are gainfully employed as New York hotel hostesses,… More Faith, Hope and Charity motivate the wacky storyline of Columbia's Three Girls About Town--or to be more exact, gorgeous sisters Faith, Hope and Charity Banner, played respectively by Binnie Barnes, Joan Blondell and Janet Blair. Faith and Hope are gainfully employed as New York hotel hostesses, whose job it is to entertain wealthy out-of-town conventioneers (but no hanky panky, if you please!) They've remained in this profession in order to afford the expensive private-school education of their sister Charity, who shows up in the Big Apple in pursuit of her own career, or a wealthy husband, or both. Charity's arrival coincides with several big-time conventions, one of which is being covered by Faith's newspaper-reporter boyfriend Tommy Hopkins (John Howard). Things get dicey when the three girls discover a corpse in one of the hotel rooms. Certain that they'll be blamed for the death (or at the very least fired from their jobs!), the sisters conspire with Tommy to hide the body from the cops. Trouble is, the body just won't stay hidden, not even when our heroines try to dispose of the awkward stiff in one of the coffins brought into the hotel for an undertaker's convention. Blessed with a generous supply of belly-laughs and an unending stream of familiar character actors, Three Girls About Town sustains a proper level of zaniness right up to the cop-out finale. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: Unrated, 1 hr. 11 min.
Directed By: Leigh Jason
Genres: Action & Adventure, Comedy

In Theaters: Oct 23, 1941 Wide

Critic Reviews

Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Though well-acted, it's one of George Cukor's earlier, lesser efforts

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Featured Audience Ratings

Doctor S

Fast-paced, fast-talking comedy they don't make anymore as sassy comedienne Joan Blondell (second only to Carole Lombard for the era) and her two sisters attempt to hide a dead body from the cops, and her journalist fiancee who intends to cash in a huge scoop. Some impish… More
Fast-paced, fast-talking comedy they don't make anymore as sassy comedienne Joan Blondell (second only to Carole Lombard for the era) and her two sisters attempt to hide a dead body from the cops, and her journalist fiancee who intends to cash in a huge scoop. Some impish bad-taste hijinks ensue "Weekend At Bernie's"-style with some good laughs and witty banter sprinkled throughout. The resolution is strained but no matter really. John Howard also scores big as the newsie attempting to outfox his betrothed.

Cast

            Joan Blondell as Hope Banner

            Binnie Barnes as Faith Banner

            Janet Blair as Charity Banner

            John Howard as Tommy Hopkins

            Robert Benchley as Wilburforse Paddle

            Eric Blore as Charlemagne

            Hugh O'Connell as Chief of Police

            Una O'Connor as Maggie O'Callahan

            Almira Sessions as Tessie Conarchy

            Dorothy Vaughan as Mrs. McDougall

            Paul Harvey as Fred Chambers

            Frank McGlynn Sr. as Josephus Wiegal

            Walter Soderling as Charlie

            Jessie Arnold
            
            Arthur Ayleswofth
            
            Lloyd Bridges
            
            Bruce Bennett
            
            Barbara Brown as Clubwoman

            Chester Clute
            
            Alec Craig as Samuel

            William B. Davidson
            
            Lester Dorr as Reporter

            Sarah Edwards
            
            Dick Elliott as Magician

            Bess Flowers as Mortician's Wife

            Harrison Greene as Poker Player

            George Hickman as Bellhop

            Eddie Laughton
            
            Vera Lewis
            
            Arthur Loft
            
            William Newell as Laundry Man

            Larry Parks
            
            Minna Phillips as Martha

            Ben Taggart as Doorman

            John Tyrrell
            
            Ray Walker
            
            Charles Lane as Mortician
See full cast