Lady for a Night

The prior review was excellent. But the movie is set in Memphis not New Orleans, even though the Mardi Gras opening would belie that. And Joan Blondell's character is the one who proposes the marriage, not the other way around. All in all, it's very entertaining movie which deserves a better reputation.

Jenny Blake is the owner of a river boat for gambling, dancing, drinking and women – suffice to say that she is not really accepted into polite society in the way she always dreamed of being. So when she is voted the Queen of the Mardi Gras, Jenny is overjoyed, only to be upset when she learns that her business partner Jack Morgan helped her by rigging the whole contest. So whenever drunken plantation owner Alan Alderson gets into serious debt with the gambling boat Jenny proposes to wipe out the debts in return for his hand in marriage and the fast track into high class society. However, not all those in that circle are that happy with her sudden rise above her station, especially Aunt Julia who is determined to get rid of her by any means necessary.

I cannot remember why I decided to tape this film and, now that I've watched it I still have no idea – although I'm sure it was down to some sort of obsessive compulsion than any great attraction of the film! Anyway, the plot is a simple one of social climbing where Jenny tries to get away from her own level only to find that those above her don't want her to climb. You pretty much know where it is going from the first 20 minutes, although the plot still manages to be unlikely as well as predictable. It is nothing special but it isn't awful or annoying – it is just rather bland. The drama side is plodding and obvious, while the comedy is laugh free and relies more on energy than anything else. The couple of songs act well as distraction and filler but they are only OK. These produce a film that just looks to keep you happy for about 90 minutes but not do anything special during that time or have any impact past the end credits.

The characters are very simply painted in the script and are simply delivered by the cast. Blondell is OK but she is hardly 'trash' is she and we never doubt what will happen to her ideals by the end. Wayne is a secondary character who's only purpose is to be a decent man who turns up every 10 minutes to help Blondell in some way. The support cast of Aldersons are very much join the dots and the actors are only average. There are a large amount of black characters, with two main ones in comedy roles – modern audiences may find them hard to watch because they are ethnic stereotypes that are overplayed for comedic effect. At first I was a bit taken aback by this (although I know it is of its time) but then I thought about modern movies that do the same thing (albeit with a cooler, hip hop, ebonics stereotype) and wondering if, in 50 years, that these films would be viewed as rather racist. Anyway, it was interesting to see the stereotypes but I must admit to have been a bit caught off guard when John Wayne threatened to send Hattie Noel 'back to Africa'!

Overall this is an instantly forgettable movie that only wants to keep you semi-entertained for the running time without doing anything special or making a lasting impression. Maybe it is the presence of John Wayne that has meant it still pops up on television with some regularity because other than that I really have no clue as to why it has not been just forgotten by time.

In this costume comedy-drama set in late 19th century Memphis, gambling hall proprietress Jenny Blake (Joan Blondell) has great wealth but no respect among the snobs in high society. Politician Jackson Morgan (John Wayne) doesn't care about Jenny's reputation, loving her regardless, but his feelings aren't reciprocated, and Jenny marries alcoholic Alan Alderson (Ray Middleton) in order to gain social acceptance, while the Alderson clan want access to Jenny's fortune, having lost theirs in the Civil War. The disapproving Julia (Blanche Yurka) does everything in her power to undermine Jenny's efforts.

The first scenes of the film seem like many other 19th century set pictures where a brash guy tries to romance an equally brassy gal. Things change a bit when Blondell marries and heads to the country estate, where the many similarities to Rebecca begin, with a dark and dour female presence (Blanche Yurka), a deadly secret from the past, and even rumors of ghosts. The movie is hard to take with the drastic shifts in tone from farcical humor to dramatic tension, then on to (a lot) of bad racial jokes and references (Wayne threatens to send a maid "back to Africa" and there are quite a few slurs). It seems like the producers just tried throwing everything into a blender and hoped something potable came out. It sort of did, but you wouldn't want to drink deeply. The movie is saved from failure by the talents of the two leads, Blondell still a sharp cookie even if the waistline was starting to grow, and Wayne was showing much improvement in his acting abilities.

Jenny Blake runs the gambling boat Memphis Belle, but she yearns to be accepted by the high society. Casting off her love interest Jack Morgan, Jenny accepts an offer of marriage from non compos mentis plantation owner Alan Aldredge. Naturally the rest of the Aldredge family are not too thrilled to have someone of Jenny's standing in their family, with one of them in particular prepared to do anything to get rid of Jenny.

Serviceable time filler is a phrase that could have been invented for this particular film. It's neither good or bad, and it's competently put together from both sides of the camera. Tho primarily a romantic drama, there is often humour within the script, most often when John Wayne {Jack} and Joan Blondell {Jenny} are sharing the screen together. Tho for sure not during the big finale court room pay off!! Here is the main problem on why Lady for a Night really falls down, it's confused as to what it should be. It's joviality is nice and endearing, but when the theme of class snobbery is coming to the fore, light relief is neither warranted or required. In fact the shift in tone for the rushed final quarter takes all by surprise. We lurch from grinning with mirth one second to a serious drama the next, and it's all a bit off putting at a time when the nastiness of the story deserves our full attention.

The cast are a mixed bunch. Blondell is effervescent and attractive, and Wayne, in a straight uncomplicated role, does what is needed with such minimalistic material. Blanche Yurka does a nice line in evil old bat routine {paging Mrs Danvers, paging Mrs Danvers} and Hattie Noel dons the maid apron and gives it the Hattie McDaniel treatment. The rest are barely worth a mention, with Ray Middleton & Philip Merivale particularly out of their depth. Some nice tunes such as "Ta-ra-ra Boom-der-é" and "Has Anybody Seen My Man?" lighten up proceedings {again is this a dark film or not?} and the costume side of production is well worth observation. But it all ends up being a collage of tones, with neither one or the other breaking out to let the good side of the film truly break free of the confusion, shame that. 4/10

First off, anyone who watches this film because it's a John Wayne film (like me) may be disappointed because he is really a supporting actor. This is because he'd only been a regular starring actor in small-budget B-Westerns and in larger budget films he was mostly in secondary roles until the mid-to-late 1940s. Second, because the Wayne screen persona was not yet solidified, lovers of the Duke might also be shocked to see that for most of the film he plays a love-sick man who loses his woman to another. Had the later Wayne been in such a situation, he no doubt would have slugged the other suitor and drug off the woman for some lovin'--John Wayne style!! The real star of this film is Joan Blondell. Unlike Wayne, her star was starting to fall, as her prime as a leading lady was definitely the 1930s. Here she is a bit older and heavier, but this is also perfect for her role as a casino owner and singer.

Blondell's ambition is to leave the casino life to Wayne and marry a society man in order to ensure herself a play in polite society. Unfortunately, she's seen as a woman of low virtue and the only man she can find to marry is a drunk from a previously wealthy and well-heeled family.

Her welcome into the new family was not surprisingly rocky, as one of her new sister-in-laws was just plain evil. The longer the film progresses, the more evil and juicy this role becomes--making this a pretty exciting film and characterization. Ultimately, the plot takes a very dramatic twist near the end until it is all wrapped up nicely in the end.

The only serious negative about the film is that the plantation she moves to in Reconstruction-era Memphis is ridiculous and full of racist stereotypes. No, the Blacks do not eat watermelon or act as bad as Stepin Fetchit, but they play out an even more insidious role--happy Blacks who are content with the good treatment by their White "betters". This over-idealistic view of the South is insulting and may raise a few eyebrows. Try to look past this to see that you still have the basis of a very good film.