On G List of Movie Reviews
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The Girls of 42nd Street (1973)
Rate:
7
Viewed:
3/21
3/21:
Shot through low quality film on a minuscule budget, The Girls of 42nd Street puts
Pretty Woman's Julia Roberts to shame.
No matter how cheap the movie looks, it has some terrific acting. The two standouts are Laura Cannon and Neil Flanagan
as Dusty and Cherry Lane, respectively. I have to say it's the latter who steals the show because he's convincingly natural.
When Dusty uses her eyes in a certain way prior to performing a trick, she's expressing lack of enthusiasm.
It's easy to feel somewhat bad about Dusty and Cherry Lane who can do better. I think, deep down, they realize that. The ending
is a bit of a shocker which is symbolism for the long string of bad luck to befall on Dusty who was sincerely hoping for a
light at the end of the tunnel through her new boyfriend.
Some scenes, especially early on, are stale and can use more editing. Many times, the camera is annoyingly positioned in a
way which cuts off the bottom ten percent of the screen. I kept hoping Andy Milligan would move it a bit higher.
One nice thing is the film isn't gratuitous. There's more emphasis on the grittiness of going through the sleazy
life of prostitution on Times Square than straight-out nudity. Having said that, the longer and more X-rated version
(Fleshpot on 42nd Street which is currently destroyed) would've lost the effect, negating the serious acting put
forth by Laura Cannon and Neil Flanagan.
All in all, what Julia Roberts tried to fake is realistically captured by Laura Cannon and Neil Flanagan in
The Girls of 42nd Street.