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.
Review of Just a Gigolo
