"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."
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."