Just a Gigolo (1931) User Reviews

A Little William Haines Romantic Comedy

[Ron Oliver · 7/10 · 26 February 2000]

The American nephew of an English nobleman is appalled at the prospect of an arranged marriage. To prove to his uncle that all girls are not sweet & innocent, he disguises himself as his intended's paid dancing companion, to see if she'll have an affair with him. To his surprise, he falls in love with her. When she catches on to the trick, will she acknowledge her hidden love for him, or will she continue to treat him as JUST A GIGOLO?

William Haines, always enjoyable to watch, sparks this little pre-Production Code comedy, in which his silly-billy antics are toned down a bit. He's particularly fun in the climaxing scenes at the San Sebastian Inn, when he thinks Irene Purcell has surrendered a wee bit too far to his charms. Miss Purcell gives a pert performance as a spoiled young noblewoman in need of firm handling. Wonderful old Sir C. Aubrey Smith is excellent as a crusty lord who has much to learn about modern youth, circa 1931.

Haines was one of the art directors on this picture. The following year, with his dismissal from MGM, he would start a new & very successful career as a Hollywood interior decorator.

Not one of Haimes' best!

[JohnHowardReid · 6/10 · 9 July 2014]

Only the photography (Oliver T. Marsh) sparkles in this tired bedroom farce. William Haines, who turned in such a bright performance in "The Girl Said No" (1930), is way off course and simply not at all believable as a straight man here and comes across as a liability rather than an asset. Stage actress Irene Purcell, here making her feature film debut, does not impress either. However, the other girls are all rather cute. Director Jack Conway has made a commendable attempt to infuse life into the script's dead wood by directing it all in zippy long takes with no reverse angles at all. Instead, he cuts from long shot to medium shot all the time – which does get a bit monotonous. Mind you, this movie does hold curiosity value for the connoisseur, especially as Haines actually designed the sets himself (despite the credit to Cedric Gibbons who wasn't even consulted). On the other for the average moviegoer and everyone else, "Just a Gigolo" would rate as just passable entertainment at best.

Say Yes to Life! Say Yes to Love! Say Yes to Me!

[drednm · 20 August 2005]

Pleasant William Haines pre-Code comedy has Haines as a playboy who thinks all women (especially wives) are cheats. When he learns his uncle (C. Aubrey Smith) has arranged for him to meet the daughter (Irene Purcell in her stage role) of his old friend, he devises to masquerade as a dance gigolo to prove she's a cheat also. Haines and Purcell are a nice couple, and Haines is not a "gay" here as he is in some other talkies. And Smith is of course always good.

Charlotte Granville, Henry Armetta, Albert Conti, Maria Alba, George Davis, Lillian Bond, Yola d'Avril, Lenore Bushman, and a very young Ray Milland co-star.

Haines was a major star when this slight MGM comedy was released. It was a big hit, ensuring that Haines remained a top box office attraction in talkies. He was a top 10 star from 1926 (Brown of Harvard) until 1932, when Louis B. Mayer scuttled his career. It's a shame he's forgotten now. William Haines was a unique talent, and terrific comic actor, and a gay icon.

Purcell is very bright and pretty (despite a lisp) and had a very minor starring career. Seems like she should have made more films.

I found the acting atrocious

[jfarms1956 · 2/10 · 21 July 2014]

Just a Gigolo is a movie best appreciated by those who are 45 and older and who enjoy older films. It is not a prime time movie. It is probably best enjoyed late at night or on a rainy afternoon. I found the acting in the movie mostly to be, put it lightly, atrocious. However, that was the style in the early films. Watch the lifestyles of the rich and famous in 1931. The best thing about this movie is that it is fairly short, just a little over an hour in length, and will fill empty time and create empty noise. I am most grateful for the short movie. Wine and cheese are on the menu for snacks for this film. Popcorn is okay. The movie may even be a cure for insomnia if it were not for the screeching female voices in the film, particularly the French accented one. It's not so bad to rate it as really bad. It's just bad and I enjoy older films. Not a total waste of time though.

William Haines in one of his more subtle comic performances

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 29 April 2011]

Normally, in his sound films, William Haines would be constantly chattering and go for the broad laughs with over the top often hammy humor. Here he plays it cool pretty much throughout. Haines plays the playboy nephew of Lord George Hampton (C. Aubrey Smith). Lord Hampton has had it with paying for his nephew Robert's scandalous and expensive ways and threatens to cut off his allowance and his inheritance unless he marries. He even names the girl - one from a wealthy family that has never met him and therefore doesn't know what he looks like. At first Robert says no - he's had too many married women to want to wind up playing the fool himself once he is married. Robert's experience has led him to believe all women cheat. Thus Robert makes a bargain with his uncle - if he can bed his wife-to-be in 30 days without her knowing who he actually is, he does not have to marry her. The uncle agrees and the fun begins. Of course the bet between Robert and his uncle isn't put quite as plainly as I put it. This may be the precode era but there were some things you couldn't just come out and say even then. Still this film is pretty sexually bold for its time and is cleverly done. Highly recommended for the precode fan.

One thing that puzzles me is whatever happened to Irene Purcell, who plays Robert's possible fiancée here? She's been just perfect in the MGM films I've seen her in - this one and "The Passionate Plumber". She was great at playing high society types in comedies, but it was just three films and then out for her over at MGM. She did three more films at smaller studios in much smaller parts and left the industry entirely in 1932. I wonder what happened?

William Haines is suave...

[Dr. Ed-2 · 10/10 · 9 January 2001]

as the wild playboy who depends on his uncle for money. One of the best light actors of the 20s and 30s, Haines shows off his stuff in this mild comedy; he's the whole show. What's important about this film is that it demonstrates what kind of career Haines could have had in Hollywood if he had been willing to play the game and "play straight." Because he wouldn't, Louis B. Mayer, scuttled his career (as he did John Gilbert's) and Haines quickly descended to B pictures. One of the top box-office draws of the late silent/early talkie period, Haines was washed up just a few years after this film. C. Aubrey Smith and Irene Purcell (lovely as the love interest) are fun.

A nice change of pace for Haines.

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 2 June 2017]

In most of William Haines' films, he plays a man with incredible natural talents--be it as a soldier, a football player, a polo player or whatnot. Here in "Just a Gigolo" his talent seems to be women...and Lord Robert Brummel (Haines) is mistaken for a common gigolo. Since this is a pre-code film, there is lots to suggest but little is stated outright. A 'gigolo' is described as a man who takes money to dance with women....though most adults in the audience know this is code for a male prostitute. And, in usual William Haines style, he lets the lady believe that he's just a gigolo!

Casting Haines as a British lord did seem odd considering he sounds 100% American here. A Ronald Colman-type would have been more believable but MGM put Haines in this for one huge reason...he was a huge box office draw at the time. So, as was often the case, the role was expected to fit the actor instead of the other way around.

Despite Haines being wrong for the part, I really liked this film because unlike his other very formulaic films, this one is a comedy- -especially when the girl his character is chasing realizes who he is and decides to turn the tables on him. Clever and quite enjoyable.

By the way, as for Haines he only made a small handful of films after this. With the new Production Code of 1934, gays were now supposed to be DEEPLY in the closet and the openly homosexual Haines chose instead to walk away from films...and became a very successful interior decorator to the stars.

...people know the part I'm playing...

[xerses13 · 8/10 · 27 April 2011]

M.G.M. film adaptation of 1930 Stage Play that featured Irene Purcell, who co-stared with William Haines in the Cinema translation. Neither would find much success in the future Hollywood. Ms. Purcell, though attractive did not translate well to the Silver Screen. Mr. Haines had other problems in the eyes of Studio Heads Louis B. Mayer and Irving Thalberg. He would not keep his personal life 'private' and they felt he was a disposable asset.

THE NUTS; Lord Robert Brummel (Haines) doubts that anybody will love him for himself and not his Dollar$, Pound$ and Title. 'Uncle' Lord George Hampton (C. Aubry Smith) despairs he will never settle down, marry and give the Family a heir. He keeps setting up possible mates which 'Lord' Robert keeps shooting down. Finally meeting Roxana Hartley (Irene Purcell) who proves too be his match and there is a happy ending. The film features several amusing incidents and the song JUST A GIGOLO.

Mr. Haines gives a appealing performance. Dropping his usual 'Gay Blade' and 'Prissy Ham' act. Showing the natural acting and comedic talents that were well illustrated in films like TELL IT TO THE MARINES (1926) and SHOW PEOPLE (1928). Fortunetly for him after his screen career ended he continued as a successful interior decorator, with many of Hollywood's elite seeking his services.

Watch It for the sets, Irene Purcell and the old folks

[ScenicRoute · 24 October 2011]

William Haines is not believable as a "straight man" in this movie, despite what others think, and so there is no sexual frisson between him and Irene Purcell. They are as brother and sister, but what a sister she is! Really quite contemporary in her deportment, she fascinated me with her performance. As others noted, she came and went - perhaps her interpretations were just too far advanced. But the movie was a hit, and I think she carries Haines through, with her "needy sister" act to his absolutely dispassionate comportment with her. Anyway, one reviewer says Haines had a hand in the set design, and if you love "geometric Deco" (as I do), they are to die for. I kept pausing and studying the sheer complexity of the opening set - way, way cool. And the old folks, C. Aubrey Smith, and Charlotte Granville, are great as Brits who know how to let their youth evolve. A quite amusing scene when the two react to the "sex book" that the young folk are reading. Some things never change. A refreshing move, even if Haines only really engages with the other men and is too much the buffoon with the women for my liking.

A great classic, just fabulous

[asinyne · 10/10 · 26 July 2016]

Still engaging today IMO. I watched this recently and was very entertained despite the fact there are virtually no effects, very little computer input(ha). I'm pretty sure the budget would not buy much in Hollywood today (lunch maybe). Films can be so good with just charismatic actors, good lighting, and a clever script. One could probably make thirty film like this with the money they blow on computer graphics along nowadays. Heck, you don't even need color!!! Oh well, we have these old classics to enjoy and still we can go off to the movies and watch them blow stuff up...its a win win. Just a Gigolo, what fun.

Unusual courtship will probably result in unusual marriage

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 17 April 2024]

Leading lady Irene Purcell who brought her role from the hit Broadway play to this MGM screen version was signed by the studio based on the strength of her stage performances. She would only make two more pictures at Metro, then freelance briefly at other studios the following year. So, with only a two year tenure in Hollywood resulting in just six motion pictures, she has the leanest of filmographies for a studio star. But she made an indelible mark regardless, before returning to Broadway.

For all intents and purposes this is not a vehicle for newcomer Purcell, though; it's a project for Metro's leading man William Haines, the only member of the cast to have his name above the title in large lettering. Haines' flamboyant personality suits this story of an irresponsible youth with a devil-may-care attitude, shunning convention at every turn. When his uncle (C. Aubrey Smith) decides something must be done about the nephew's reckless behavior, our main plot kicks into gear.

The two men wage a bet that if Haines is not able to prove that the gal (Purcell) Smith has chosen to be Haines' wife isn't immoral like many women seem to be, then Haines will give up his gigolo antics and settle down to marriage. Smith has help from the girl's aunt (Charlotte Granville, recreating her stage role) who would also like to push Haines & Purcell together.

At first, there is a lot of silliness with Haines leading Purcell on, and Purcell rejecting him, which is new territory for Haines with women. Then things turn predictably serious when Haines realizes he's falling in love with Purcell and almost wouldn't mind losing the bet to uncle and ending up married to Purcell after all. But when it seems there will be a happily ever after, Purcell learns the truth about Haines who has been impersonating a dance teacher (code for gigolo) and that he's really a titled British lord.

The last sequence has Purcell deciding to turn the proverbial tables and teach Haines a lesson, by letting him think she's a loose woman, so that his ideal of the perfect woman is shattered. Of course, he finds out it's all just a gag, and she's leading him on as he had led her on earlier. They do finally settle down at the end, but we know theirs won't be a conventional marriage.

While the two stars do not radiate a ton of sexual chemistry, they perform opposite each other with great panache and we root for them as a couple. Helped by pros like Smith and Granville, the whole thing ends up a merry affair, one of the more delightful precode romps that come to mind.