Pour plaire à sa belle

Gable and Stanwyck did one other film together at the beginning of talking pictures. It was called Night Nurse and Barbara was the lead and Gable an up and coming supporting player.

A generation later and they're both screen legends. I would have hoped that MGM would have given them something better. It's not that it's a bad film, the racing sequences are quite good and exciting. But To Please A Lady was definitely a B picture.

I have a theory that Gable wanted to do this for pleasure. After World War II, Gable and Stanwyck's husband Robert Taylor both took up racing; motorbikes, automobiles, you name it. MGM put a stop to it, not wanting to have two of its most expensive properties out risking their necks for fun. That's why we have stunt men. It took the decline of the studio system before a newer generation of stars like James Garner, Paul Newman and most of all Steve McQueen could pursue racing without studio interference.

Gable is the race car driver and Barbara Stanwyck is the Dorothy Thompson type columnist who at first dislikes him and then falls for him big time. Lots of similarities in their relationship to Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn in Woman of the Year. No comedic moments in this one though.

Both Gable and Stanwyck deserved something more memorable than To Please A Lady.

Dreary day in Auckland New Zealand, October 2005 and TCM has "To Please a Lady " on twice in the one day. Between mowing the lawns, I watch it twice. Sludge overkill? If it had been about a football star I wouldn't have watched it. The story line is as thin as Gable's moustache. But the automotive background, 55 years old, is priceless. Some of the "action" scenes are stagey, but you can tell that Gable does some of the close up, high speed driving - you don't get wind buffet on cheeks and arms from driving at 30mph! To see an Offy' motor being stripped, to see inside what looked like a genuine 1950 racing shop and to see Mauri Rose in the legendary Novi was incredible. Not for everyone, but for classic motor racing enthusiasts this movie is a hidden treasure. You get the feeling that Gable must have been a motor racing fan.

Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck star in "To Please a Lady," a 1950 film directed by Clarence Brown. Adolphe Menjou also stars.

It took Gable's career a while to get back on track - excuse the pun - after World War II. He was older than the other matinée idols, he was a grieving widower when he returned from the war, and the indelible image he had created as Rhett Butler would haunt him. It wasn't until the mid-fifties that he really found his groove with some very good films.

This is one of the ordinary type films Gable made during this period, and here he's joined by Barbara Stanwyck as a sharp columnist. She is critical of midget car racer Gable when, during a race, another driver is killed, and he was part of the collision. She basically destroys his career in midget car racing. After some stunt driving, he earns enough to buy a car to enter the big car races. Feeling at first guilty about hurting his career, Stanwyck seeks him out while he's stunt driving; they fall for one another, but she can't get past his ruthlessness in competition.

Both stars are very good. Stanwyck did these cold businesswomen well. She's moving here into older women roles, her wonderful figure intact.

There is a lot of speedway racing in this film.

This movie is pleasant enough, but it would have been nice if stars of this stature could have been given a really top-notch script and production values.

This film is a typical star vehicle for Gable. He strides through it with his usual confidence, the cocked eyebrow and sly grin making the odd worthwhile appearance. What makes it unique is that it's the only teaming of Gable and Stanwyk. That's a real shame. Their chemistry and spark makes every scene they have together worthwhile, screen images and their characters clash wonderfully. A fantastic screen pairing. Barbara shines,proving again to be at home in any genre, matching it with any leading man. Gable, for his part sparkles too,deftly shading the darker elements of Mike Brannan with experienced ease. The perfect answer to a night at home or a rainy day.

A decent film of its era, with a very formulaic story arc between the two main characters. I had only watched this because Barbara Stanwyck was starring in it. I had no idea that it was a racing movie. But as a racing fan, it was a lot of fun to see the vintage racing footage. Even though Clark Gable was mostly acting in front of a projection screen for the racing closeups, they spliced it all together very well. And even though auto racing is dangerous now, wow, they raced open top cars with no seat belts at all, no roll bar, no fire suit, pretty much nothing at all to protect a driver except a partial helmet and goggles. Also fun to see the pit stops with a lever for a jack, and hammers to remove and replace the main tire nuts. Apparently, a lot of footage from the 1950 Indianapolis 500 was used and it was something to see.