Between Us Girls (1942) User Reviews (7)

An odd comedy- one of Diana Barrymore's few films. But she's good.

[pitcairn89 · 7/10 · 13 June 2009]

This is kind of a curio. It has an excellent cast, and some good scenes, but overall, it's a bit of a miss. I find it interesting mainly because it features Diana Barrymore, who I've read about, but never seen on film. She was pretty good, and probably could have had a successful career, and possibly been a big star, if her private life hadn't been so chaotic. From what I've read about her, she's a perfect example of what happens when parents totally neglect their children. Her famous father, John, and her mother, Blanche, pretty much ignored her all of her life. It must have been very difficult for her growing up. John has always been one of my favorites, but he sure was a terrible father to her.

She shows real talent in this film. It is sort of a road company "The Major and the Minor," but she's good. In the opening scenes, she plays a Queen Victoria type (or maybe it is the Queen herself), and does so convincingly. At the end of the film, she plays Joan of Arc, again convincingly. She seemed to have the Barrymore talent, and showed she was good in character parts. She also had a knack for comedy. I was impressed by her, and wonder what she could have done with a really good part. It's too bad that she went down her father's path of too much booze, too many bad romances, and a generally self-destructive lifestyle. Her autobiography, "Too Much, Too Soon," was well named, I guess. If things had been different, I bet she could have been a star, and/or a good character actress.

One of the best points of the film, as with so many old Hollywood movies, good and bad, is the number of excellent supporting actors it has. Bob Cummings is the co-star, Kay Francis and John Boles are the second leads, and Andy Devine, Walter Catlett, and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams head the character actor list. Those character actors could elevate any movie, and they usually did. They were fantastic in the great films, really putting them over the top, and they helped save the mediocre or poor pictures. I'm sure audiences of the day brightened when their faces came on the screen. This was towards the end of Kay Francis' career, and it is a bit sad seeing her here. She had been a very big star in the '30s, and was now being given only supporting parts. Must have been hard to take. Ditto John Boles, though he wasn't ever quite as big as she was (but he did have an impressive career). I've always liked Bob Cummings, and he was pretty good at comedy himself (remember "Love That Bob?"). He was also good with Hitchcock, and in Anthony Mann's "The Black Book."

Anyway, it's worth a look. Not a great film, but interesting (as is Kay Francis' house in the movie, which looks a little like Boris Karloff's digs in "The Black Cat"). And Diana Barrymore shows some real promise. Whew!- maybe it's better not being famous.

A chance to see Diana Barrymore at the start of her very brief heyday

[jjnxn-1 · 7/10 · 13 August 2016]

Definitely downmarket reworking of The Major and the Minor was meant to be the launching pad to stardom for doomed wild child Diana Barrymore.

She shows promise which had she been able to wrestle her demons and not self destruct might have lead her to a decent career. She and the slipping Kay Francis make an excellent physical match as mother and daughter and Diana handles the comedy demands of the script well but leading man Bob Cummings is no Ray Milland and director Henry Koster is by no means Billy Wilder.

Also the original's sense of whimsy has been replaced by a thudding foolishness which robs the situations of much of their charm.

Who's major and who's minor?

[mark.waltz · 7/10 · 31 July 2015]

When first seen, young Diana Barrymore is seen padded and covered with old age make-up, playing Queen Victoria to a sold out audience and getting a standing ovation. This dramatic young lady appears to be more than twice her age, and the audience is only made aware of that when she heads back to her dressing room and begins to disrobe while making romantic small talk with one of her co-stars as maid Mary Treen wisecracks. It is quite the transformation, and makes one imagine what such actresses as Helen Hayes, Anna Neagle and Irene Dunne went through when they turned their lovely selves into her majesty.

Returning home to visit her lovely mother (Kay Francis), Barrymore learns that she has a new beau and decides to continue her play acting by dressing up as a little girl. When the distinguished boyfriend (John Boles) shows up with young Robert Cummings, Barrymore pounces down the stairs, appearing to be a pre-teen and acting quite flighty. This creates all sorts of comic tension, especially when vinegary housekeeper Ethel Griffies comes in and ends up locked in the closet. You can tell that this isn't your typical Kay Francis mother love drama as the two have a grand old time fooling both Boles and Cummings, even at the expense of almost loosing the devoted but no-nonsense Griffies.

While there is definitely a similar storyline in the same year's "The Major and the Minor", this film is quite different in its screwy tone, much more cartoonish and consistently filled with much laughter. When Francis tells her daughter, "Lying is part of every woman's job. Sometimes, it's their only defense", you know that this is the set-up for a very zany farce-filled movie. Barrymore, just approaching adulthood with this role, seems to thoroughly be enjoying the many layers of her character, making such observations as "When you think of all the trouble that blonds have to go through. Bleaching, bleaching and bleaching. You can always tell when a beautiful blonde is a fake. The hair goes dark at the roots. I don't know why blonds want to get blonder. I guess because they are ambitious. Brunettes never have to get brunetter. I guess that's because they are modest!"

As for Kay Francis, this is another one of her fun-loving supporting parts that began with the bitchy wife of Cary Grant in "In Name Only", continued as Deanna Durbin's actress mother in "It's a Date" and turned into a delicious cat-fight with Rosalind Russell in "The Feminine Touch". She disappears through the middle of the film but isn't at all wasted. John Boles is wasted as Francis's lover, and Robert Cummings seems too smart to be fooled by Barrymore. Funny character performances by Andy Devine and Lillian Yarbo round out the frantic pace. With its clever, if sometimes too frantic, script and direction by Henry Koster, this is one of those rare comic treats that has to be seen to be believed.

Diana Barrymore in one of her few films

[blanche-2 · 5/10 · 14 June 2021]

Diana Barrymore stars with Kay Francis, John Boles, Robert Cummings, and Andy Devine in "Between Us Girls" from 1942.

This film is a curiosity because of the presence of Diana Barrymore. Watching her in this film, one realizes what she had and what she threw away due to alcohol.

An actress, Caroline (Barrymore) comes home to visit her mother Christine (Francis). She discovers her mom has a beau, Steven (Boles). When he calls Christine, she realizes he thinks her daughter is a child.

Christine finds it funny, but Caroline is afraid that when Steven sees her, he'll think -- well, who knows, that she's an old bag? Older than he thought? I guess. When he arrives, Caroline appears in childrens clothes and a childish hairstyle and bounces around as a young girl. When she tries to hide her publicity photo sitting on the piano, she claims it's Christine's drunken sister.

From what she says - and she's an actress, so she goes on and on -- Steven's friend Jimmy (Cummings) becomes concerned about her and calls on her again. This time, she's practicing a scene as Sadie Thompson in Rain. She pretends to be the aunt.

The movie is loud and frantic, overdone, and to my mind, not well directed. Barrymore appears in the film as an elderly Queen Victoria in a stage production, as a child, as her adult self, and in the end, as Joan of Arc.

I happen to think Barrymore was not only beautiful but a wonderful actress. This just isn't a very good movie. Andy Devine yelled every line. Kay Francis is beautiful but not given much to do. What she does is wonderful. Cummings and Boles were okay, though how neither of them realized the child was the aunt is beyond me. The film was exhausting to watch.

Barrymore appears in the film as an elderly Queen Victoria in a stage production, as a child, as her adult self, and in the end, as Joan of Arc. I don't agree with one poster who said that any ingenue could have played her role. Sadly, I think Barrymore was given opportunity after opportunity and drank them away.

If you have the energy, it's worth it to see her.

Too much, too little

[jery-tillotson-1 · 2/10 · 26 April 2021]

My main reason for watching this so-called comedy is that doomed would-be starlet, Diana Barrymore, mentions it in her memoir, Too Much, Too Soon as her big break in Hollywood. She had grown up on Fifth Avenue, with a wealthy background but with a horrible, neurotic mother, Blanche Oelrich who fancied herself a great dramatist and wrote plays under the pen name of Michael Strange. Her father was Hollywood legend, John Barrymore, who had already descended into alcoholism by the time Diane met him in Hollywood. Diana did well in her Broadway debut and was instantly deluged with offers of contracts from all the major studios because the "Barrymore" name was still legendary around the world. Her aunt, Ethel, and her uncle, Lionel, had achieved triumphs on stage and movies.

Diana chose Universal Studio over all over because, as she told her father, "they offered me the most money." But Universal was notorious for never nurturing the careers of its female stars with the exception of Deanna Durbin and Maria Montez.

Her Hollywood career began with frenzied hype, "The most sensational screen debut of the century!" And she hadn't even made a movie yet. Which brings us to "Between Us Girls." This was to be Diana's big launching pad of her talent, a chance to show the world of her extraordinary acting abilities because, you know, she was a Barrymore!

Alas, although given a posh production, Diana is much too frenzied and over-plays her role as a young actress taking a break from Broadway. The most bizarre part of the movie is when she decides to dress up as a twelve year old girl to fool her mother's suitor. We're supposed to believe that Bob Cummings is totally fooled by her cringy performance as a babbling brat. She's as tall as Cummings and acts like a woman trying to act like a teenager. There's also something creepy about how this mature man seems to get the hots for this strange "little girl." None of the characters, except for Kay Francis, are very pleasant. Ethel Griffies (Mrs. Bundy in "The Birds") is so grim and mean it's impossible to feel any amusement at her stark, grim personality. Andy DeVine screams his dialogue because he's supposed to be the agent for Diana.

The worst sequence is towards the end, where Cummings FINALLY realizes what a fool he is as Diana pleads with him to forgive her for making him act like a fool. All this takes place in an interminable car ride that goes on and on with Diana becoming increasingly hysterical: D"Please, please forgive me, sir! I--I, please, please forgive me, will you, will you, huh?" Diana doesn't look like a talented movie performer. Her face was too pudgy and any starlet could have played her role, although she writes that this part was fought over by Ginger Rogers, Deanna Durbin and other major movie actresses.

She was in Hollywood for only two years before suddenly leaving it after Universal offered her roles that she felt were demeaning to the Barrymore name. One of them was a Sherlock Holmes movie which she felt insulted her because the Holmes movie were always the second feature of a double bill--yet, they were very popular and could have given her some popular exposure with fans.

In her memoir, she describes an already thirst for too much drink while in Hollywood and after she left it, she went through nearly a million dollars in trust funds, movie money and other resources before sinking into poverty. Her choice of male partners were certainly masochistic, with one of them breaking her jaw, knocking out her teeth--but she still went back to him.

Diana committed suicide at the age of 37 shortly after the publication of "Too Much Too Soon" and a big mystery that remains is why she didn't stick it out in Hollywood and become a respectable character actress in quality films. Acting was not really in her genes although she pretended it was as she lamented not being offered movie roles that were worthy of the Barrymore name. Her only claim to fame was that she was--a Barrymore!.

Diana Barrymore deception has hilarious results in multiple roles

[SimonJack · 8/10 · 10 August 2020]

"Between Us Girls" is a very good comedy with a superb cast and a very talented young actress in the lead. Dianna Barrymore plays four roles of different ages - all superbly. It's as though this movie and screenplay were written for her - to show her range and versatility. Yet, she got the part almost by chance. Not many females have played multiple roles in films, but Barrymore has the talent of the great males who did so - Alec Guinness, Peter Sellers and others.

The movie opens with Barrymore in a stage play as Queen Victoria. Except for seeing her then remove all her makeup after that role, one would not believe that was Barrymore as the aged queen. She then is herself as Carrie Bishop, a 20-year old stopping off to see her mother in New York before going on to her next theater performance in Detroit. Kay Francis plays her mother, Chris Bishop. But because of her mother's new serious suitor, Steve Forbes, Carrie wants him to keep his mind on her "young" mother. Chris didn't tell Steve how old her daughter was, and he assumed she was a young child. That's the only fuzzy aspect of the film - why he would think that. So, Carrie acts the part of a 12-year-old. While she is a little tall for that age, her dress, hairdo and other makeup, and voice and manners truly emote an immature youngster. She plays the part superbly.

The next role is one of her aunt, from the photograph of Carrie all dolled up that her mom had. So, she concocts a story about the hard-drinking aunt. When Jimmy Blake returns to the house later and sees the genuine Carrie but thinks she is the aunt, she adopts the aunt persona. Robert Cummings is Blake. He's a friend of Forbes.

The comedy is all built around deception for Barrymore to play the different roles. And it's very good. A number of the supporting cast all do very well. Andy Devine plays Mike Kilinsky, Carrie's agent and promoter. Ethel Griffies plays Gallagher, the 20-year housekeeper and housemother of the Bishops. Walter Catlett is a police desk sergeant.

The film has some very hilarious scenes. Carrie with roller skates and in the police station. And the end is very funny.

Diana Barrymore made only four more films after this and then returned to the stage where, like all others of her relatives, she got her start. But her drinking soon turned to alcoholism and combined with drugs, she couldn't get jobs her last few years. She was married three times to abusive husbands. In 1955 she spent nearly a year in treatment, including a lengthy stay at New York's Towns Hospital, a drug and alcohol treatment center. She returned to some stage work sober and wrote an autobiography in 1957, "Too Much, Too Soon." Warner Brothers made a movie of the same title in 1958. Dorothy Malone starred as Diana and Erroll Flynn played her father.

Diana Barrymore died January 16,1960, in her New York apartment. Her death was listed as suicide due to a drug overdose. But the autopsy didn't find drugs. She didn't leave a note, but three empty liquor bottles were found in her apartment.

Barrymore had one of those wealthy but neglected childhood educations and upbringings. She was shipped off to schools in Europe. Her mother neglected her and she didn't see her father for 20 years until just before his death in 1942. With all of her talent, she was bitter about her upbringing. But instead of being determined not to become like her parents, the spite she had led her down the same path of self-destruction.

It's not very likely that many people will have seen Diana Barrymore on the silver screen. Of the six credited films in which she appeared, three have substantial roles that show her superb talent. All three were made and released in 1942. "Eagle Squadron" with Robert Stack, and "Nightmare" with Brian Donlevy are the other two. But no movie shows Barrymore's great versatility better than this one.

All movie buffs should enjoy this film, and even most modern audiences should find it entertaining. Here are some favorite lines form the film.

Carrie Bishop, "Really, Chris, lying is part of every woman's job. Sometimes it's her only defense"

Carrie Bishop, "Ohhhh. It's perfect Don't you just love it?" Cab Driver, "Love what, lady?" Carrie, "The house." Cab Drive, "Yeah. Quite a trap, all right. Poisonally (sic), I prefer my arch-i-tex-shur Spanish."

Carrie, "Where's mother?" Gallagher, "In bed!." Carrie, "In bed. But it's eleven thir... she's ill?" Gallagher, "Nothing of the kind. But what else can you expect when she's out lollygagging 'til three in the morning, night after night?"

Carrie, "Three in the morning? It's not true." Gallagher, "Not true? And since when did Molly Gallagher ever be able to give the word but that God's truth come from it? I live by the truth and I'll die by it. And I'm telling you there's more going on here than your eyes can see. A whole lot more. And just hoping, I am, that you're not too late."

Carrie, "Gallagher, who is it?" Christine Bishop, "Gallagher doesn't know anything about anything do you, Gallagher?" Gallagher, "Oh, I don't, don't I?" Chris Bishop, "No, you don't." Gallagher, "If it's lying you want done, you'll have to be hiring another to do it." Carrie, "Bravo? Give out, Gallagher. Who is it?" Gallagher, "One Stephen J. Forbes, esquire."

Gallagher, "An actress!" Walking away, "'Tis married, you should be. And having children - heaven help 'em."

Jimmy Blake, "You've never had any roller skates before, huh?" Carrie, "No, my mommy won't let me have 'em. She says that children's feet should be seen and not heard."

Diana Barrymore & Between Us Girls 1942

[sharyntad · 17 October 2013]

After having read Diana Barrymore's biog "Too Much Too Soon, and seeing this movie, I have definitely come to the conclusion that Ms Barrymore, lacked any kind of "drive" as an actor. She is "adequate", at best. Throughout her career as an actress, whatever she did, be it stage or screen, was for the money, never for love of acting. I do not fault her parents at all. She was a spoiled brat, born with a silver spoon in her mouth, who had PLENTY of opportunities come her way. Despite her uncontrollable alcoholism, she was given many, many chances to succeed as an actress (stage, movies, TV, even burlesque) and blew them ALL away. She was difficult, undependable, excessive, self-destructive, accustomed to being bailed out of her own messes, and never developed a talent for acting, period. It was the family "name" that opened doors for her, not her talent (or lack of). The public, back then, just wanted that Barrymore legacy to continue, especially after John Barrymore's death. I wholeheartedly DOUBT she would have developed into a "star" of any caliber, no matter what her parents did or didn't do. From a child to woman, she didn't know what she wanted. And when she DID get what she wanted, she got bored & just made it very difficult for everyone around her. Nix to Diana Barrymore movies.