Review of Escort Girl

Escort Girl (1941)
10/10
classic seedy expose of "Escort Girl" racket--Wheeler Oakman and Betty Compson in top form!
3 January 2005
While this film is not as sleazy as SLAVES IN BONDAGE or GAMBLING WITH SOULS, two earlier films that featured star Wheeler Oakman as a pimp, ESCORT GIRL is slickly made and well-acted by a wonderful cast, and while it doesn't "show anything", it does have a seedy, dirty feel to it, even though it's not unlike a studio-bound, low-budget Grand National crime drama. Oakman, great as the heavy in so many westerns, gets a meaty role as the co-owner of a sleazy escort service, co-run with Oscar nominee and major star of the silent era Betty Compson. Compson's daughter, who has been attending fancy boarding schools in other states, does not know what business her Mom is REALLY in, and suddenly appears out of nowhere. When Compson and Oakman learn that the daughter's boyfriend (Robert Kellard, featured in some classic serials, and playing the title character in the 1947 Columbia serial TEX GRANGER) works for the District Attorney's office, things start to get complicated. It's a joy to watch two pros like Compson and Oakman work--Compson's monologues about motherhood and the dirtiness of the escort business are delivered as if they were great literature. Also, this film LOOKS great. The VHS transfer looks as if it were shot yesterday. There's an incredible plot complication about two-thirds of the way through the movie that I won't mention, but is amazing, and the drunken "confession" after it is classic. In addition, the great screen drunk Arthur Housman stumbles through one scene, and Rick Vallin is priceless as a gigolo who is stuck with an elderly but rich lady as his date, night after night. It's a running gag throughout the film, and Vallin plays it to the hilt. I've probably watched this film a dozen times over the years. It's not as sleazy as other exploitation films, nor is it weird like a Dwain Esper film--it's VERY competently made. It just has a strange appeal to me. Perhaps it will have a similar effect on you? Fans of Wheeler Oakman or Betty Compson will not want to miss it.
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