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The Worst Film Ever

Pretty Good

People are voting emotionally.

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Unusual roles for John Wayne and Joan Blondell, unusual setting, and unusual drama for Republic, and they all add up to a wonderful movie that offers lots of fun for us, the audience.Blondell and Wayne make a strong pairing, something Hollywood should have considered before and again. Blondell was usually known for light, even fluffy characterizations but here she proves herself so much more: an actress. And Wayne, looking good in formal city-slicker attire, plays a character of politics and urban corruption (which, in fact, are so often the same thing) who still is essentially decent.It's a familiar story in some ways, but it's familiar because it seems to happen enough in, as we laughingly call it, real life.Wayne and Blondell should be enough for any movie, but they are backed up by a sterling, by an incredibly varied and tremendously talented cast, even including the amazing The Hall Johnson Choir, with some astonishing soloists.Stealing every scene she's in is Hattie Noel. She just dominates every shot, with her skill at delivering her lines and an overwhelming personality -- and some brilliant and funny dialogue.Despite his drunken character, Ray Middleton comes close to stealing his scenes, too. He endows his character with an undeniable and innate decency, despite the drunkenness.Middleton doesn't sing in "Lady for a Night" although he was a trained singer with a beautiful voice, beautiful even in speaking.Perhaps the climax is just what we expect, but it is also what we want. And the ending, the final scene, is also what we want.Wayne again proves he is an actor capable of many different roles, and Blondell again is so adorable, and so beautiful, their presence alone would make any movie worth watching just for them, but "Lady for a Night" is well-nigh perfect for its entire cast and its excellent script.I have no hesitation rating it a ten and recommending it highly.It's available at YouTube.

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.

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.

To start, this is not a John Wayne movie. Yes, he is in it, and yes, he is featured in a major role. However, his character is secondary. The primary character is Joan Blondell as Jenny Blake, the owner of a gambling boat on the Mississippi. Desperate to be accepted into society, Jenny is thrilled when she is announced Queen of the Mardi Gras, not knowing that man-about-town Jack Morgan (Wayne) rigged it. Memphis society is aghast and boos her. She becomes more determined than ever to break into society, and accepts the proposal of drunken plantation owner Alan Aldredge (Ray Middleton) to become his wife. Alan's family, with the exception of his Aunt Katherine (Edith Barrett), is aghast at the entrance of Jenny into their blue-blooded family. Aunt Julia (Blanche Yurka), an evil looking woman, starts to scheme almost from the get-go, going out of her way to get rid of her new in-law. The gift of a blind horse as her own almost kills Jenny, and later Julia attempts to humiliate Jenny by arranging for no one to show up at the ball Jenny has planned. That is thwarted by Jack, who obviously has feelings for her. Julia's next step ends up in tragedy, with Jenny on trial for murder. But, with her luck, Jenny is saved from the hangman's noose, and learns a valuable lesson.This Republic "B" feature is actually a pretty lavish costume drama. Blondell, a wonderful leading lady at Warners in the 30's, gets to show off her singing and dancing abilities in the "Up in a Balloon" production number. Later, at Jenny's party, there is a campy rendition of "Ba Ba Ba Boom De Yay!" during which Jenny's lively black maid (Hattie Noel, an obscure character actress, equally as funny as Hattie McDaniel) gets into the act. It is a camp moment that is still treasured by those who adore over-the-top cinema.Wayne does not have much to do but step in to rescue Blondell in her times of need. This was not an important film for him, but for the cast playing the evil Alderson clan, it was a chance to show off their acting skills (or at least their hamming ability!). Phillip Merivale has little to do but disapprove of Jenny as Alan Alderson's elderly father, but his sisters (Yurka and Barrett) have great opportunities to show off their talents. Yurka, best known as Madame DeFarge in the Selznick production of "A Tale of Two Cities", is equally evil here; she is a definite rival with Judith Anderson and Gale Sondergaard as the perfect screen villianess. A stage star in the 1910's and 20's, Yurka is a combination Lady MacBeth and Madame DeFarge as she sets on her sites to make Jenny miserable. Deliciously camp (my guess it was unintentional), Yurka is a delight to watch from start to finish. As her fragile sister Katherine, Edith Barrett (the first Mrs. Vincent Price) is the epitome of sweetness, a total contrast to her evil sister. The scene where Barrett accuses her sister of having murdered her fiancée years before is powerful stuff, and makes us realize that underneath her fear of her sister, Katherine has a strong side determined to come out.The less said about Middleton as Steve Alderson, the better. I will just say he is stiff, unromantic, and lacking in charisma. In other words-he was perfect as the husband Blondell couldn't love no matter how much money he had! While Hattie Noel's character may raise some eyebrows in today's society because of stereotypes, she does create many laughs, especially when she arrives at the Alderson house by breaking down the side door when she is rebuffed by the stuffy black butler. You just have to consider the time that this was set in and accept the fact that it would be many, many decades before the treatments of blacks began to change.Although Leonard Maltin gives the film only two stars, I have to disagree with his review. Although no cinema classic, it is a very entertaining and light-hearted film, even with its macabre plot developments. Perfect for a rainy afternoon or the late show, "Lady For a Night" is worth a look as a camp classic.