Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

ShangLuda Admirable film.

Beystiman It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Sarita Rafferty There are moments that feel comical, some horrific, and some downright inspiring but the tonal shifts hardly matter as the end results come to a film that's perfect for this time.

Edgar Allan Pooh " . . . for cotton to come back, for the ghosts of their sons: zombies, the living dead who haven't the decency to lie down and stay buried," Jenny rails at the Court of Confederate (or Red State) Public Opinion during the climax of LADY FOR A NIGHT. At a time when many if not most Americans suspect that shadowy Ted Cruz operatives assassinated Originalist U.S. Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia after the latter preliminarily--and privately--revealed to Ted's henchmen that Cruz is INELIGIBLE to run for President under Scalia's prevailing Originalism Doctrine, LADY FOR A NIGHT also involves a no-autopsy poisoning victim. With Scalia dead and "The Fix" in for Cruz in Cleveland, Jenny's worst fears seem likely to be realized next year: President Cruz will allow the 30 "Red States" to Reimpose Race-Based Slavery, as all Constitutional Amendments are nullified except for No. 2 (the Right to Armory Muskets). Though Donald Trump is not yet assassinated as of this writing, his comments about The Trash "rigging the System" ring truer now than in Jenny's LADY FOR A NIGHT day. (After supporting Freddie Gray, Prince died mysteriously today; Donald could be next.) JFK was invited to Red Cruz State Texas and got whacked there in the 1960s. It's been all downhill for America ever since.

classicsoncall My earliest recollection of Joan Blondell is from the mid-Fifties TV series 'The Life of Riley' in which she had the role of next door neighbor Honeybee Gillis. Like a lot of actresses I've run across since then, I never realized how good looking she was until I caught some of her earlier work in pictures. A couple others that come to mind are Bette Davis and Angela Lansbury. I don't think I've ever seen Blondell looking this glamorous before, and if you want to make that before and after comparison yourself, get hold of the fifth season Twilight Zone episode 'What's in the Box' and you'll see what I mean.One of the interesting things here is that Blondell is actually top billed over John Wayne, who got his start in pictures before the actress but who's fortunes didn't start to rise until that big breakout in 1939's "Stagecoach". They start out as a couple in the story before Blondell's character Jenny Blake decides to short cut her way into society by marrying an alcoholic playboy portrayed by Ray Middleton. However when she moves into the family mansion 'The Shadows', she quickly realizes that she's an intruder in a world in which she doesn't belong, and the rest of the upper crust around town let her know it.Through it all, Jackson Morgan's (Wayne) a pretty good sport about it, and maneuvers things behind the scenes to soften Jenny's hard landing when she learns what rotten characters her in-laws are. Mother-in-law Julia (Blanche Yurka) even frames her for murder before it's all over - talk about nasty relatives! What might put off potential viewers if you haven't seen pictures of the era like this, are the way some scenes are handled concerning black characters. In particular, Morgan delivers a sit up and take notice line when he chides Jenny's black maid Chloe (Hattie Noel) with "...get out, or I'll ship you back to Africa"! With the time frame of the story taking place shortly following Reconstruction days, the treatment of blacks in the story is still fairly subservient, but Chloe and fellow Alderson domestic Napoleon (Lew Payton) handle things with humor and relative good cheer.Speaking of which, I couldn't get over how closely Chloe came to just about perfectly describing what it felt like to get drunk, following a lively party at the Alderson's - "Every time I lays down, the floor rears up, looks me in the eye and sneers". The reason I bring it up is one time I had a bit much myself and I recall feeling pretty much the same way as Chloe. With the bed spinning in the room, the only safe place was the floor, but I thought I'd miss it!

Spikeopath 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

bob the moo 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.