A Girl Must Live (1939)

Carol Reed and Margaret Lockwood can't really go too far wrong, but at times it is touch and go with the adaptation of Emery Bonnett's rather feeble novel. She assumes the name of "Leslie" who has absconded from her Swiss finishing school and hooks up with "Gloria" (Renee Houston) and "Clytie" (Lilli Palmer) as a jobbing chorus line actress. Enter poor old Hugh Sinclair - the recent inheritor of the Earldom of Pangborough - and the three ladies decide that they must be the next Countess. Their efforts are better focussed when they - alongside producer "Joe" (David Burns) - are invited to his country pile to shoot some of their latest movie. What ensues is occasionally quite witty, the dialogue is very quickly paced but misses as often as it hits. Naunton Wayne (without his usual sidekick) has some fun as an aspiring protegé of "Fagin", with Horace Robey constantly checking the quality of the sherry as "Blount", the butler and Helen Haye in her usual, imperious guise as the dowager "Lady Primrose". What does work it the rapport - competitive and lively - between the girls, especially Palmer who's character has a feistiness I rather enjoyed watching as she constantly spars with Houston. There are a few musical/dance numbers that are adequate, at best - but then they are not supposed to be Ziegfeld's gals, so can almost be treated as a chance for the stars to recharge their batteries for more chat. The ending isn't up to much, but it's just about worth the watch.