The Girl from Georgia: A strange, dusty romp

Is it worth your time?

Honestly, only if you have a soft spot for pre-code era fluff where people talk like they’re reading from a playbill. If you hate theatrical, over-the-top acting, stay far away. It’s light, it’s breezy, and it’s deeply silly.

Johnny is your classic 1930s trust-fund brat who gets cut off after failing out of school. You know the type—too much hair oil and not enough common sense. He ends up in Arizona, which is apparently the place to go if you want to find yourself or just hide from your dad.

Waffles, really?

Enter Waffles. Yes, that is her name. She runs the show at a gas station and decides to whip Johnny into shape. It’s the kind of dynamic that was huge back then, but watching it now feels a bit like watching a parent teach a toddler to tie their shoes. Except the toddler is a grown man with a mustache.

The acting is... let’s call it 'theatrical.' It’s not quite as stiff as The Living Corpse, but these people are definitely projecting to the back row of a theater that doesn't exist. There’s a lot of wide-eyed staring and frantic hand-waving.

The desert setting is actually pretty charming, even if it looks like a soundstage half the time. It reminds me a bit of the aimless wandering you see in Riley the Cop, just with less police work and more gasoline pumps.

• The dialogue is incredibly snappy, almost to the point of annoyance.
• I’m still not over the name Waffles.
• The transition from 'rich loafer' to 'gas station attendant' happens in like three minutes.

There’s a weird, desperate energy to the comedy that I didn't hate. It doesn't have the grit of Sarah and Son, but it isn't trying to, either. It’s just a movie about a guy learning to work for a living because a lady told him to. 🤷‍♂️

It’s not a masterpiece, but it’s a weird little footnote in film history. Sometimes you just need to watch a guy get yelled at in a desert, you know?