The Naughty Flirt (1930) User Reviews

Fun, Flapper Comedy with Charming Alice White

[alexwells · 7/10 · 19 September 2006]

"The Naughty Flirt" is a delightful period piece that evokes the (relatively) care-free life many of the very rich maintained even in aftermath of the 1929 stock market crash.

Alice White plays the spoiled socialite Miss Katherine 'Kay' Elliott and does a very charming comic turn. This is a Pre-Code film in which the figures of all the female beauties are provocatively shown off in revealing attire in the party scenes. While the sex - including a somewhat surprising spanking scene - is played up, the prohibition age drinking is can only be suggested.

The film starts with a gay gang of young socialites in the back of a Police Paddy Wagon headed to the police station to be booked on creating a public nuisance. It seems pretty obvious they've all been drinking as well as dancing at a riotous rooftop party.

White as Kay is quite the unflappable flapper, a Daddy's girl with an income of $100,000 a year. Imagine what that could buy in 1931! She's been kicked out of every fine private school her father could get her into and is the dedicated decadent until her world is turned around by a straight-laced country-boy-turned lawyer who happens to work for her Dad's firm.

It's a classic case of opposites attract - with a dash of Taming of the Shrew. The two are instantly drawn to each other starting when the lawyer, Alan Ward (Paul Page), - studiously attending a session of night court at the police station - first lays eyes on the naughty platinum blonde.

Their romance is tested by a scheme masterminded by Linda Gregory (Myrna Loy) and her brother Jack (Douglas Gilmore) who wants to marry her for money. These dark characters hope to recover from the loss of their fortune in the stock market crash.

There are also trust issues as regular guy Alan attempts to gage the loyalty of this 'belle of the ball' while taking stock of her seemingly countless admirers.

I saw this on TCM which has a very high technical standard. I'm always impressed at how quickly sound movies progressed. Just four years into the sound era, there's a scene with a wax cylinder Dictaphone in which we listen in as White puts on headphones and hears the recording of Alan speaking for dictation and then get sidetracked into another far more personal conversation with a friend drops into his office unexpectedly. The sound is played back in the scratchy Dictaphone mode - differentiating it from the regular sound.

This is a fun and funny story, providing a glimpse into a fascinating age (especially if you were rich) where Jazz Age attitudes intersected with an elite American Anglophile culture.

Fun Film Follows Flirty Flapper's Frolics and Follies

[movingpicturegal · 7/10 · 21 March 2006]

In this entertaining film, Alice White plays cute, perky, flirty, well-to-do blonde Kay - throwing a party in honor of her annual expulsion from finishing school, she dances, plays the ukulele, bats her eyelashes, and gets thrown in the paddy wagon along with her circle of wild chums. And that's just the start of this story!

While at court she meets handsome young lawyer Alan Ward (Paul Page), who by coincidence works for her daddy's law firm. She falls for him big-time, then pursues him like crazy - but no go from his side, though he seemed to like her from the get-go, I guess she's too much of a flirt for our serious young law man. But as one friend says of her "When Kay Elliott starts after a man - she never misses!". So - seducing him after she tries to snag him via the "Cinderella Dance" (girls throw in one shoe on the dance floor, guys pile on top of each other in attempt to find the shoe of their fave gal and get her for "dancing and dinner" later) it seems to be working. But man crazy Kay is currently engaged, by her own count, to "six or seven men"; Alan, tired of her flirtations, puts her over his knee and gives her a spanking (yeah, you read that right). She decides to change her ways and comes to work as his secretary. Okey-dokey. Meanwhile, Two chums, a brother and sister duo (the sister, quite well played by Myrna Loy), make plans to break up Kay and Alan for their own greed - to get Kay (and her $5,000,000) for the brother.

This is a lively romp of a film mostly good because of Alice White, who gives an engaging, fun-to-watch performance. She is more cute, with her spit curls, big eyes, and pouty mouth, than a good actress but her acting does run circles around that of her co-star, Paul Page, NOT much of an actor, I must say. I am a fan of Myrna Loy, but this film is *completely* stolen by Alice White. Quite enjoyable, light fun.

Early Myrna Loy supporting Alice White

[ksf-2 · 7/10 · 14 August 2007]

Spoiled rich girl Kay Elliott (Alice White) can't settle down, or even settle on one guy. In Naughty Flirt, she battles with Alan Ward (Paul Page -only made a few films) and Linda Gregory (Myrna Loy, three years before the Thin Man series) Alice White made many films, but none seem to be well known. She had been in the original, silent "Gentlemen Prefer Blondes" 1928. White appeared in more than her share of movies with suggestive names (Naughty Baby, Hot Stuff, Lingerie, Playing Around) This is a good story, but you can tell it was made just as sound was coming in play - they were heavy on the eye makeup, and they even use subtitle cards several times. Also a music track playing under most of the dialogue. Keep an eye out for Fred Kelsey as the cop at the beginning - made a career out of playing the policeman (the Man Who Came to Dinner, Larceny Inc, the Bride Walks Out)

Alice White as a Kewpie Doll

[drednm · 15 March 2006]

Minor but amusing comedy starring that little kewpie doll, Alice White.

For a few years in the late 20s and early 30s White was a big name and starred in a series of comedies and musicals.

In THE NAUGHTY FLIRT she plays a spoiled rich girl who travels in a fast set of country club kids. She runs across a staid lawyer in night court when the "gang" has been hauled in for disturbing the peace at a local dive. He works in her father's law firm.

Because he ignores her she floods him with invitations and finally lures him to a party where he continues to ignore her and pay attention to her rival, Myrna Loy. Of course this drive the little flirt crazy. The "Cinderella Dance" is interesting to say the least.

Myrna and her brother are almost broke (it's 1931) and they have a scheme for him to marry White with her $100,000/year income. So there are some more complications before the final clinch.

Alice White was the Goldie Hawn of her day, a delightful actress who could sing a little and dance a little. She was a rival to Clara Bow and was probably the last of the flappers. She's very good in this comedy. Myrna Loy has fun as the bitchy rival who schemes for money. Paul Page (looking like Fredric March) plays the lawyer. Robert Agnew is Wilbur, George Irving is the father, Douglas Gilmore is Jack, Fred Kelsey is the cop, and Lloyd Ingraham is the judge.

Cute film.

Alice White shines amid roaring twenties fun

[soren-71259 · 6/10 · 17 June 2018]

This is a small film and isn't really about much more than a bunch of spoiled rich kids finding out that there is more to life than just being minor league juvenile delinquents. But there are a number of things that make this charming and fun and it's under an hour long so there's not much to lose. First of all, as many have said, Alice White is such a quintessential flapper that it's no wonder she didn't last beyond the Clara Bow years. Her New Joisey oops Jersey accent is a hoot and different from that of the great prima donna actresses of the era. There is a sequence early in the film where she bats her eyes at Paul Page while riding in a car and she more than bats them. Her eyes are so enormous and dominant that they practically do cartwheels flirting with him. In short, as a male, I find her irresistibly cute and delightful and her firm, clear delivery of lines (essential in early talkies for theaters with not so great sound systems) stands out with the sharpness of a female Eddie Cantor. Watch also for the barely seen singing group at the big party where microphones are not yet de rigeur and the ensemble sings through megaphones! The flapper clothes are all wonderful and so are the beautiful cars so if you like period fun this is a delight. Myrna Loy is still in her bad girl period here and makes a nasty femme fatale. Paul Page is a Frederic March clone as a leading man and shows naturalness and real talent. Too bad his career simply faded away after 1934. There's nothing super spectacular here but either you find Alice White doing her naughty flirting is as they used to say "the bee's knees" or you don't. It's easy to underestimate the way she uses her eyes, her body language and her desire to get the most out of every scrap of dialogue she gets. I'm so sorry she had such a fall from grace and a difficult later life but she has become a cult figure for movie buffs who love the early talkies.

Alice White is adorable

[gbill-74877 · 7/10 · 18 August 2018]

What a delightful little bit of pre-Code confectionery this is. Alice White is simply adorable, there are lots of playful moments, and Myrna Loy schemes in a supporting role. White plays the wild child of a rich lawyer, partying late and having romances with a lot of different men. When she's on the verge of marrying one of them on the spur of the moment, he has one of his employees (Paul Page) get her out of there. The two of them hit it off, but face challenges in not only her playgirl past, but also in a brother/sister duo (Douglas Gilmore and Myrna Loy) plotting to have Gilmore marry her for her money.

The innuendo in this film is pretty innocent, but as in other pre-Code films, I like the acknowledgement of women's sexuality. That has an honesty about that, even if it was also meant to sell tickets. The plot is simple and the run-time is a brisk 56 minutes, but to me that was a good thing. The flapper scenes - being hauled in by the police after a late night party, with playful defiance of authority in the dialogue - were entertaining. The party scenes - the 'Cinderella dance', and then later dancing the night away to forget heartache - were as well. The clothing, hats, and cars are all beautiful. It's White's movie, but the scene where Loy hatches a scheme to get Page up into her room and into a compromising position is a good one.

In a scene that may define whether you'll like or dislike this movie, White gets a spanking from Page when he discovers she'd made a bet that she could get him to go home with her before midnight, and that she has a history of doing that kind of thing. I found it an amusing little window into the period as the tone was light, then literally laughed out loud at the intertitle which followed, which said "A good old fashioned spanking was the turning point in the life of an ultra-modern girl." However, if that sort of thing is likely to bother you, I'd recommend skipping this film. On the other hand, if you like Alice White, or pre-Code silliness in general, you'll probably like it enough to warrant spending an hour.

Spanking the Party Girl

[wes-connors · 3/10 · 12 August 2007]

Alice White is, indeed, a "Naughty Flirt". She plays a "wild and crazy party girl" who loves to go out and engage men. One man, a lawyer, resists her advances - so, naturally, she wants him most of all. He spanks her for her naughty ways, and it changes her life (she tells him he really makes an "impression"). She gets herself a job as lawyer Paul Page's secretary and does tough things like clean his inkwell. Myrna Loy is good as a supporting player who wants to set her brother up with wealthy Ms. White. White is an engaging and funny performer, but her character behavior at the end of the film is so dumb it spoils the film. It shows the character has no maturity. If I were Mr. Page, I would shine her on - or, give her another spanking.

*** The Naughty Flirt (1/11/31) Edward F. Cline ~ Alice White, Paul Page, Myrna Loy

Alice White Rocks!!

[Bob_Zerunkel · 7/10 · 2 August 2012]

I won't get into the plot. Almost all the other reviewers thought it necessary to ruin the movie for those who haven't seen it.

I won't get into whether Myrna Loy was hot or was good actress. Plenty of other reviewers thought she was the star of this show, and they spent way too much time on a third-billed starlet with a throwaway role. Remove her role, and the movie marches on. No script changes would be needed besides removing her few forgettable lines.

I will talk about Alice White. This is a woman who in real life or in almost all of her movies was the ultimate vamp. I wouldn't trust her to take out the trash, but good golly, is she ever a "Naughty Flirt." This is a movie that I would like to see every couple of years. Ms. White is quite an unusual actress. She had more talent than most actresses. She could have been a star in many different fields of entertainment. She chose movies, and she chose to be the woman who destroyed marriages and men.

Myrna, as popular as she was, had very little talent compared to Alice. People remember Myrna, but it's mostly due to the movies she was cast in. And everybody has forgotten Alice for basically the same reason. In this movie, Myrna is a quite distasteful person, but still, some reviewers somehow find her attractive and her acting compelling. I don't know what they were watching. She was simply a word that begins with B and rhymes with "witch." Not a stretch for her.

My one and only criticism of this delightful romp is that I absolutely hate how Hollywood of the '30s kept representing the common man as outrageously rich and decadent. None of the characters in this movie had a clue about the horrible despair permeating America due to the Crash of '29.

kind of cute story but also quite trivial

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 12 August 2007]

Alice White plays a rich and shallow playgirl who is constantly getting in trouble because she's bored and hangs around with equally shallow friends. The film begins with the lot of them going to court over some disorderly conduct charges when she meets an ambitious young lawyer (Paul Page) who works for her father's firm. He's horrified at her behavior and is even more horrified when she appears ready to marry some young guy she hardly knows. So, wanting to do right by his boss, he abducts her and takes her to daddy. Although you'd think she'd hate Page for doing this, in the tradition of "Taming of the Shrew" she is smitten. The problem is that he isn't exactly excited by the idea of marrying this pretty and rich lady because she is such a ditsy mess. Eventually, when it looks as if she's winning him over, an evil suitor and his sister do everything they can to break up this budding romance.

This is an enjoyable but easily forgettable film from Warner Brothers with decent but overdone acting. The story is amazingly simple and predictable, but despite all this, it's a decent film--mostly because it is so short and breezy that it's over before becoming tiresome. Not exactly a glowing review, but that's really about all I can say about this silly trifle of a film.

By the way, Myrna Loy appears in a rather substantial part in one of her films before she became a star.

Naughty Alice

[richardchatten · 6/10 · 12 April 2019]

The question does Alice or Myrna play the flirt of the title is quickly answered. Pert blonde Alice White is practically the whole show while Myrna is offscreen much of the time in this lively potboiler nimbly directed by Eddie Cline; although we never see Miss White in the bathing suit she promises to disport herself in before leading man Paul Page.

A typical Depression-era attempt at comedy that flops

[SimonJack · 4/10 · 9 July 2018]

As with so many other early talking pictures, "The Naughty Flirt" is only interesting for its look at an up and coming star. In this case, that's Myrna Loy. She doesn't have the female lead, but the top supporting female role. Yet, of the more than dozen actors in this film, Loy is the only one movie fans would be able to recall in just 20 more years.

Alice White has the lead as the wealthy socialite, Kay Elliott. Her character is quite flighty, which doesn't seem to enhance the comedy or romance in this film. It's a typical plot, and not much of a story. The film flopped with the critics and the Depression era audience of the day. All the rest of the roles are forgettable except for Loy's. In this film, she shows a side of acting that could be more serious and cunning.

As one watches many films of the first few years of talkies, it seems apparent that the pre-code era (from 1928 to 1934) just happened also to be the flushing out time. That's when many silent era performers saw their careers take a nose dive while a smaller number not only survived but were catapulted into major film careers.

Myrna Loy was in the latter category while everyone else in this film was in the first group. Alice White had just started in silent films in 1927. She was making five or more films a year, but by the mid-1930s, her roles dwindled and her film career ended in 1942.

An Adorable Flirt

[kidboots · 8/10 · 8 January 2010]

Alice White was an adorable flapper, whose career was over before it started. She was First National's answer to Clara Bow but she didn't have the longevity of the red headed "It" girl. 1931 started with "The Naughty Flirt", one of her best films and ended with "Murder at Midnight", in which, although billed prominently, she was only given about two decent scenes.

The plot is 60 minutes of frivolous fun with White doing what she does best - being adorably flirty and making every man her slave. When Kay (Alice White) and her gang are hauled into night court for disorderly conduct, she meets Alan Ward (Paul Page) an associate with her father's law firm and it doesn't take him long to fall under her spell. She already has a persistent suitor in Jack Gregory (Douglas Gilmore) who is always asking Kay to marry him. He, along with his scheming sister, Linda (Myrna Loy) have ulterior motives - they have been wiped out in the stock market crash and hope that if Jack can marry Kay their financial worries will be at an end.

The "Cinderella Dance" is one of the film's highlights - all the girls take off one of their shoes, put it in the middle of the ballroom and then the boys have to pick one and dance with it's owner. White, who made her name with a couple of excellent musicals from the early talkie era ("Broadway Babies" (1929) and "Show Girl in Hollywood" (1930)) is not asked to sing or dance here which is a pity. She also gets a run for her money from Myrna Loy as the sultry Linda. Why it took so long for Loy to "make it" (1933's "Animal Kingdom" was her big break) is one of Hollywood's real mysteries. However White's cutie pie acting wins through - she is impossible to resist.

Although she had a very hectic private life, maybe what happened to Alice White were films like "The Naughty Flirt". 1931 was one of the worst years of the depression and with a title like "The Naughty Flirt", reminiscent of a jazzy, carefree past, the movie going public may have been turned off. In this year of unemployment and breadlines, if films started out with scenes of high living ("Bad Company" and "Dance Fools, Dance") audiences wanted to see stars really suffer before realising that the simple life was the best.

Highly Recommended.

Watch For Myrna & Alice

[davidjanuzbrown · 4/10 · 3 August 2012]

I have to say, "The Naughty Flirt" is a "Chick Flick", although when it was made(1931), the term was not invented yet. As a guy, I am not into chick flicks (Although Alice White (Katherine Constance 'Kay' Elliott), and Myrna Loy (Linda Gregory) are great to look at). Here is the good news. Seeing Myrna as a real nasty sophisticated character, is interesting, because you will see a nicer version soon enough in "The Thin Man" and countless other films (Basically toned down Myrna is better than over the top (Like in "The Face of Dr. Fu Manchu"). As for Alice White, she was very interesting because she played dumb, but was not. For example: The scene where she told Alan Joseph Ward (Paul Page), that she is aware of "How many men want to marry her for her money." As mentioned earlier, she is great to look at (People compare her to Clara Bow, but I think Clara was hotter, and a better actress)). Now onto the problems: 1: The film was not funny. Spoilers: There are none to laugh about except maybe where Ward punches out John Thomas 'Jack' Gregory (The nasty brother of Linda who wants to marry Kay for her money (Interestingly enough, he takes his marching orders from Linda)) and he gets laughed at, by his friends. 2: There is not great dialog between the characters (If you see Powell/Loy Films such as "Libeled Lady" you always find that). 3: Nothing negative happens to the bad guys. In an effective comedy, bad guys should pay (Jail, money, getting beaten up, losing something of value, anything). Would it have hurt to have Kay rough up Linda a bit. Keep in mind, Myrna's rich, sophisticated, Connie Allenbury, got down with Jean Harlow's Gladys in "Libeled Lady", and gave it out and took it. She paid no price whatsoever, for her actions. 3: Last but not certainly not least, the men were pathetic. When Ward tells Kay "He is afraid of her", and her father (George Irving) who is his boss helps trap him into marrying her, you know his life just ended the second he said "I Do." Essentially he became a poodle (Even work is no break), and he ended up the BEST of the male characters. Kay's father, gets ruled by her, Thomas gets ruled by Linda, and Wilbur Fairchild (Robert Agnew) was shown as nothing but a bank to pay fines for rich people (Which is what Kay did to him). Basically 4/10 stars. 2 each for Myrna and Alice.

Watched It Because of Myrna Loy- But Became A Alice White Fan!

[msladysoul · 30 August 2003]

I just wanted to see this film because of Myrna Loy. I love Myrna Loy. But Myrna doesn't have much to do in this film. Most of the spotlight is on little, vivacious, cute Alice White. I became a fan of her. She's the ultimate flapper. She reminds you of a Clara Bow or Toby Wing. She's very natural- even though many say she didn't like talkies and feel uncomfortable. She didn't seem like it. This is a pre-code picture about a flirtatious woman which is played by Alice White who makes bet too see which guys she can hook, line, and sinker. But with one of the guys she ends up falling in love. Myrna Loy in this picture is coming into her own trademark acting in this film. Her aloof, snotty, sophisticated comedy/acting would be noticed and loved not along after this picture. If you can find it, you'll treasure it.

A Sad Statement About Women's Roles In 1930's American Society. A Frustrating Film.

[Real_Review · 4/10 · 12 July 2019]

Young Kay is presented with two choices for her future - one is a con-man drinking buddy that wants to marry her for her money. The second is an attorney for her father's company that talks down to her and insults her for most of the movie. Too bad it was 1930, and Kay couldn't see the third option - telling both guys to **** off and waiting to find a decent guy that appreciated her.

RealReview Posting Scoring Criteria: Acting - 1/1; Casting - 1/1; Directing - 1/1; Story - 0.5/1; Writing/Screenplay - 0.5/1;

Total Base Score = 4

Modifiers (+ or -): none.

Total RealReview Rating: 4

Lively Alice White Vehicle

[blondami2 · 8/10 · 25 August 2003]

.... that showcases her comedic skills and vibrant personality is eventually sunk by poor script and blah costar Paul Page (who resembles Fredric March). Miss White and Myrna Loy, however, are fun. White was saddled with lousy scripts in her brief starring career. She could have and should have been a rival to Clara Bow or Jean Harlow. She was terrific in Employees' Entrance but continued to slide anyway. Such is Hollywood. Catch her in Show Girl in Hollywood---she's good in that one too!!

What could have been

[data-25 · 14 April 2000]

While not a particularly good film, "The Naughty Flirt" does have some enjoyable moments. Traces of director Cline's comedy short background can be found in several scenes--most of the comedy being visual. Myrna Loy is good as the scheming one, with her best movie years still ahead. Alice White does well in a role more suited to her talents. The studio tried to turn her into this big song and dance star with the advent of talkies but she was much more comfortable in comic roles, as she displays in this movie and later ones. This was her last First-National film and by this time nobody cared. She did make a reasonably successful comeback a few years later, in comedy roles, which she should have been given from the start. The supporting players also do well but the film, as a whole, does not. The cast tries hard but is overcome by weak material. Still, it's worth a peek.

What a delightful time capsule!

[AlsExGal · 8/10 · 29 December 2021]

This was flapper Alice White's last starring role at Warner Brothers as the roaring twenties have ceased to roar and the Great Depression rolls in. This seems to be, in fact, the roaring twenties' last hurrah a year out from that decade.

Alice White plays rich spoiled party girl Kay Elliott who pals around with a likewise rich partying crowd. One night she and her friends are arrested for disorderly conduct and taken to night court. There young attorney Alan Ward is observing the proceedings of the night court as part of his own continuing education when Kay and her friends are brought in. The judge gives Kay a small fine, and then she is about to marry fellow idler Jack Gregory when Alan intervenes and whisks her away. This is partly because he is attracted to her and partly because he works for Kay's dad and doesn't want her to make a big mistake. Gregory is upset about this for more reason than just love - he and his sister (Myrna Loy) are broke, and they want to get their hands on the Gregory millions. Complications ensue.

The reason to watch this is not the plot, although it was better than I anticipated, or the acting - the only person in the cast who will have an acting career in three years will be Myrna Loy, and she is very much supporting cast here. It is all of the things that were so very Jazz Age or just plain obsolete that show up here - ink wells, dictaphones with cylinders, the ubiquitous fox stoles and cloche hats, and men wearing tuxedos at every public event.

This is also the death rattle of the Vitaphone sound on disc system. Cameras could not move when using Vitaphone, so everything is a series of still shots. But sometimes the director would want motion or want a distance shot. For example, at one point Alan Ward is retiring for the night and there is a long tracking shot that takes the camera from down the hall up to Ward. He is heard singing from a distance, but his lips are not moving! That was because, to get this shot, silent film had to be used and in that case it was improperly done. There are other such shots and those are made with peoples' heads turned so that you cannot see their mouths move out of sync with obviously dubbed conversation.

It's all a very light and airy confection and I'd recommend it, especially if you are a film history buff.

With such a title and staring Alice White, how can anyone resist this?

[1930s_Time_Machine · 8/10 · 17 July 2023]

Seriously, I am not being sarcastic or joking or have gone insane when I say that this is a fantastic film. It honestly is just sheer joy from beginning to end. If these ratings were just on how enjoyable a film is, this would get 10 out of 10.

As a piece of cinematic art or filmmaking then this is admittedly rubbish but it's not meant to be art, it's just fun. Although I say it's fun, the odd thing is that it's not actually funny; there are no jokes, no hilarious situations and nothing really to make you laugh but it makes you smile and makes you happy.

This picture was made for one reason alone - so that we could be entranced and transported to the fields Morpheus by that addictive living intoxicant, that personification of cuteness, Alice White. Even if you do not think that Alice White was the cutest, loveliest, sexiest most wonderful girl to ever grace the silver screen you cannot help be blown away by the overall cuddly optimistic warmth of this charming little picture. Some of you might find her an annoyingly silly, affected talentless and cannot understand why she became such a massive star for just a couple of years - if that is you then you probably hate puppies and kittens as well!

For reasons unbeknown to normal people, I have watched all of Alice White's early Warner Brothers talkies and found this is the most enjoyable. PLAYING AROUND and SHOWGIRL IN HOLLYWOOD might be better films inasmuch that they bothered to write stories for those but this one, being made a little later - 1931 (which is virtually modern when thinking about Alice White pictures!) looks and sounds a million times better since by 1931 Warner Brothers had replaced their cumbersome old Vitaphone system with 'modern' recording systems.

It does have a story which is summary is: cute, wealthy party girl fancies an employee of her father but shifty cad wants to marry her for her money. That summary is also a detailed description but a shallow story is part of this picture's charm. Compared with her films from 1929 and 1930, the acting is noticeably better (not because of the directors or actors per se, the main handicap to very early First National / WB films was they were using their Vitaphone sound-on-disc which meant they couldn't edit - it was one take per disc so everything had to be done very carefully and slowly) Admittedly the acting isn't great but as I've said, they weren't aiming for realism so it's like what you'd find in a Laurel and Hardy short. In my totally biased opinion, I'd say she's brilliant in this but I think even normal folk wouldn't think she was as atrocious as her reputation suggested - she had suffered from being associated with early technology but now that was sorted you might have expected her to soar to even greater heights from now.

Sadly this was Alice White's last staring feature for Warner Brothers. Although she returned to pictures a couple of years later but only in small and then smaller supporting roles, after this wonderful film she was no longer one of WB's biggest and brightest stars, she was unemployed. You will watch this and think what an insane decision that was. The reasons suggested at the time were that she demanded a lot more money but WB was being told that audiences had fallen out of love with her and they now wanted actresses who could act (the fools!) By the 1940s she'd given up up acting and just lived out the rest of her life as a normal woman. She would never have dreamed in a million years that there would be nutters like me still going weak at the knees every time she fluttered her eye lashes over ninety years ago!

One of the Greatest Pre Code Movies

[winstonchurchill-93755 · 10/10 · 24 June 2018]

This is what precise means: fun, silly, a touch naughty and a happy ending for all. What's not to like about a rich, adorable heiress and a villain dueling a good guy for her heart? Alice White will be readily recognizable to fans of the Bugs Bunny cartoons. With her big eyes, cute smile and knowing 'wise guy' persona, the light hearted comedy is silly and it is fun. It's for those who love these old non PC movies. Alice White's batting of eye lashes is enough to melt any heart.

Wow!

[JohnHowardReid · 9/10 · 17 February 2014]

Until I saw this movie last night, I'd never even heard of Paul Page who retired from film-making after appearing in a minor role as Jerry Bronson in the Wheeler-Woolsey Kentucky Kernels (1934). Here the dull Page has the male lead opposite super-sexy, rich heiress-running-wild, Alice White, while Myrna Loy likewise shines in the smaller role of villainess, Linda Gregory. Fortunately, Alice and Myrna give the movie sufficient lift to keep the foregone plot afloat – and this despite Eddie Cline's somewhat erratic direction which manages to touch all bases from boring to humdrum to bright, from static long takes to sweeping tracking shots, and from dull close-ups to swift, scenic cut-ups. Fortunately, we can't cast any aspersions at all on Sid Hickox's moody photography. And as for the musical collaboration between music director Erno Rapee and orchestra conductor Leo F. Forbstein, all we can say is "Wow! Wow! Wow!" In fact, I've never heard better from the Vitaphone Orchestra. This magnificently recorded, full-blooded music run-out alone makes the Warner Archive DVD an absolute must-buy! Just don't forget to leave the DVD running when "The End" title blacks out. Thank you, Warner Archive! Thank you!

Bugs Bunny's inspiration

[winstonchurchill-93755 · 10/10 · 22 May 2018]

This is what pre code is all about: fun dialogue, wealthy heiress, thin plots and happy endings.

Alice White is a howl of fun here.

If you don't like this, youlll not like pre code.

"May I clean your ink well again?" . . .

[oscaralbert · 8/10 · 5 August 2018]

. . . geography bee flunk-out "Katherine Constance 'Kay' Elliott" asks her working stiff crush "Alan Ward" toward the end of THE NAUGHTY FLIRT. This flick is just another example of the Doomsday Prophecies emanating from the always eponymous Warner Bros. during the 1900s. Warner trots out THE NAUGHTY FLIRT to warn us of the sorry days in which fraudulent White House occupants will get away with placing America's most sacred duties into the incompetent fumbling hands of their trust-fund kiddies such as "Buy Her Stuff" and "Putin's Laundry Boy." THE NAUGHTY FLIRT is crammed chock full of such crass nepotism, as Rich Fat Cat One Per Centers like "J.R. Elliott" ram their clueless offspring down America's throat. Warner portrays Kay as a seductive harlot, wreaking chaos and disorder upon every precinct she deigns to visit. Kay is the sort of worthless mercenary bimbo who'd fly Air Force One into a disaster zone, step off the jet wearing an expensive "designer jacket" bearing the motto "I just don't care!" as she flings rolls of defective "Koch Brother" paper towels at victims of the catastrophe. Some might argue that Warner went too far with THE NAUGHTY FLIRT in so hatefully depicting the Rich. However, Recent History suggest to many that Warner did not go far enough.