Lady for a Night

This movie was made in 1942. It is one of several movies that Joan Blondell, a very popular actress of the time, made in that year.

I think when you look at a movie of this type, which was an average, run-of-the-mill movie of the time, what you get out of it is a snapshot of what viewers of the day expected to see in a movie. While this movie is a period piece (looks like it takes place in 1875-1885) it says much about 1942-- what people then would view as acceptable viewpoints for the script to put forth.

I think there are two major themes in this movie that can give today's viewers an historical insight as they are entertained --the attitudes that were allowed to be expressed in that day and time about black Americans, and the Lost Cause mythology. While one character expresses the thought "Abraham Lincoln done emancipated and proclamated me", you can't tell it from this show. A black female leading character (a character actress with a lot of talent) is consistently spoken to with utter disregard for her feelings or human rights. She is threatened with banishment to Africa, is required to be seated in a segregated balcony with other black Americans, and is condescendingly referred to as "Auntie" by a white policeman, a sobriquet to which she responds in a small, frightened voice. An elderly black actor, portraying a coachman and major domo combination, epitomizes the myth of the faithful black retainer, happy to be subservient and defined by white social mores, long after Emancipation. Black residents of the Alderson Plantation are portrayed as lazy do-nothings. This group of people, in the party scene, are forced to enact the sham of being happy, joyful folk singing spirituals and swilling corn liquor on the porches of their shacks. The black actors in this movie mug, roll their eyes, and in general follow the degrading norms set for blacks in the entertainment world of 1942, which was dictated by black-face comedy-- an odious farcial comedy common in the south, which was acted out by white men.

An arresting black character in this movie is Joe, the Conjure man. Joe is an emaciated elderly black soothsayer, who seems frail, yet filled with a power not of his own making, who colors each scene, in which he sings his discordant rhymes, with foreboding. The belief in conjuration, which might be simply defined as the practice of gaining ascendancy over one's adversaries or those one wishes to sway through tricks or spells placed upon them, was brought to American shores from Afica. American authors James Chestnutt and Zora Neale Hurston deal with conjure themes in some of their stories.

The Lost Cause myth forms the framework upon which this story is arranged. The movie Gone with the Wind was released 6 years prior to Lady for a Night. The plantation in ruins, with a formerly noble family now fallen on hard times, eking out lives of genteel poverty due to their Confederate sympathies within its crumbling walls, is a scene familiar to anyone who has viewed Gone With the Wind. The Shadows, the name of the Alderson's ancestral home, is about to fall under the auctioneer's hammer for back taxes, another steal from GWTW. That the South's defeat was the nobler cause was a theme that entered American thought and literature in the early 20th century, as Civil War veterans began to pass away in large numbers, and as their deeds became the stuff of legend. It is interesting to note that this movie was for general release to American audiences, so even the descendants of the soldiers of the Grand Army of the Republic were acquiescent to this view of the South.

I always enjoy scenes reminiscent of vaudeville in movies of the 1930's and 1940's. The scenes set in Jenny Blake's gambling barge (these probably did exist, I haven't researched it) would be familiar to those who had attended vaudeville shows-- joke telling, elaborate musical numbers, dancing girls, and barbershop style male singing.

The costumes in this movie are absolutely first rate, and as a seamstress, I enjoy them each time I watch this movie. Dresses of the late 19th century (as indeed, those of the 1930's) frequently had color combinations, styles, and trimmings that today would seem very garish. Even though the movie is in black and white, the costumes give off an aura as though in color. Whoever designed the costumes, particularly those of Jenny Blake, had an eye for period detail, and access to superb seamstresses. The small bustles are correctly made, the elegant trains drape and move perfectly, and the fit is sublime. All the costumes have been exquisitely fitted to enhance the character-- Aunt Julia, the sinister character of the story, has a perfectly devilish black costume. Jenny Blake's costumes had to hold up to a great deal of active movement and yet they always appear graceful and feminine.

I find it interesting that John Wayne's character-- a behind the scenes political wheeler/dealer, manipulated the affairs of his little empire from his position as the owner of a gambling house. In "The Glass Key", a short story by Dashiell Hammet written in the 1920's, the political power behind the throne wheeler/dealer wields his influence from his gambling house/speakeasy. This must be historical.

Well, this has gotten long. I wanted to let other people know why I like this movie. We can get glimpses of what the people of yesterday were like-- what they approved of, how they related to other people, what made them laugh at the theater, through watching old movies.

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.

While I like both Joan Blondell and John Wayne, that wasn't enough for me to give this movie a higher rating. The costumes were gorgeous, and I loved the settings (the late 1860's had a certain visual charm), but the story left a lot to be desired.

The premise was good: casino owner Jenny Blake (Joan) wants to escape her lower class background and gain respectability, so she forsakes her boyfriend, Jack Morgan (John) and marries into the socially prominent but financially deficient Alderson family, trading her money for Alan Alderson's name and social connections. She soon finds out she didn't get the best of the bargain, as Alan's an alcoholic, and his family consists of his snobbish, angry father, his sour faced, domineering Aunt Julia, and his mentally vague (though kindly) Aunt Katherine. Jenny's not welcomed, made to feel like an outcast, and kept away from the very people she wanted to impress. She also senses there's more going on in this peculiar family than anyone will admit, though she gets some cryptic hints from Katherine.

Where the movie fails, is in its inability to make up its mind whether to be a musical (there are several numbers performed on the riverboat casino and at the Alderson mansion), a romance, a mystery or a gothic horror story. By trying to be a little of each, it accomplished even less. I guess you could call this a jack-of-all-trades-master-of-none movie.

It has its saving graces. The musical numbers were good, and there was an exciting chase scene, as Jack races to save Jenny, when she loses control of her carriage, unaware of the horses's impaired vision. There were a couple of black servants (Hattie Noel and Lew Payton) who gave the story some comic moments.

Not a bad movie, but it could have been better.

OK, it wasn't an Academy Award winner. However, it did have many good elements to it. I'm not going to waste time telling you what it was about, you can read that in other comments. John Wayne was young and good looking, standing straight and tall. John Blondell was young and pretty. I remembered her in later movies after she had gotten older and a little heavier. Old man time sure beats the heck out of all of us.

Some people will raise and eyebrow at the plantation type scenes with the blacks dancing and singing. Did that go on? I don't know, but I wouldn't be surprised that after hard work in the fields, ANY people would be happy for the party time. Hattie Noel played the maid (Chloe) of Joan Blondell (Jenny). Chloe was funny and did an energetic job. Were these type parts demeaning for Blacks? Sure. But the way to look at it, is that it was the beginning of getting the foot in the door to show what you could do. There was a lot of talent in that singing and dancing. Nothing to be ashamed of, many a White person has played a demeaning part. The main thing is to showcase your talent. Hattie Noel may not have had the good fortune to be in Gone With The Wind, but she would have done quite nicely.

The best acting came from Edith Barrett who played the kinder Alderson sister Katherine. Some might call it overacting but I don't think that to be the case. You could feel her anguish between being torn by family loyalty, fear of her sister and doing the right thing. She gave a terrorized, impassioned performance.

Also enjoyable was John Blondell's singing performances as the part owner of the riverboat. In fact, she was so good that I wondered if a professional singer had dubbed her voice, even though I was aware of her own musical talents.

Blanche Yurka played the evil sister Julia, and how she could ooze evilness, with those eyes boring into anyone who crossed her. She hadn't changed much from her earlier days as Madame Defarge in A Tale of Two Cities.

Leonid Kinskey played John Wayne's bodyguard. Although Mr. Kinskey was always a good character actor (remember him as the funny bartender in Casablanca?), the reason for the part in the movie escapes me. I guess John Wayne needed a sidekick.

The rest of the cast was adequate, but nothing noteworthy that I can remember. Except of course for the can-can girls who really knew how to dance that thing with plenty of spirit.

OK, should you see it? If you have the movie or see it coming on the late show, no reason not to. The story is predicable and acting is adequate with a few who stand out as mentioned above. Don't watch it just to see John Wayne because the Duke was just being the Duke. And although the Duke is almost always fun to watch, this role didn't give him much room to do his thing. His part was overshadowed by larger parts going to Joan Blondell and the Alderson sisters. However, if you have the time, you will be entertained by a movie that is "not too bad" and "fairly enjoyable". There are some good acting parts and the singing and dancing routines are quite good too. I do not think you will be disappointed.