Colibel Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Ensofter Overrated and overhyped

Paynbob It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

utgard14 Yawner starring Joan Blondell as a woman from the "wrong side of the tracks" who is desperate to get into high society and doesn't care much about what she has to do to make it happen. John Wayne plays a riverboat operator in love with Joan. All I can say is: P-U! What a stinker! One of Duke's most boring movies. He honestly had no business in this. Just listening to him talk in that oh-so-familiar manner of his while dressed up like a "dude" fawning over brassy Blondell...it's just nauseating. I love John Wayne but this role was just not a good fit for him. That isn't to say it would be a good film without him; it wouldn't. I don't see what other reviewers are seeing. There is nothing about this that I found fun and certainly nothing that would make me want to see it again. I love Duke and I really like Blondell (in her 1930s films at least) but this just didn't do it for me. I felt the two had no chemistry and I frankly couldn't stand Blondell's character so I wasn't rooting for her at all. Everyone else in the cast is forgettable. The story takes some dark turns but it never really gets exciting, in my opinion. John Wayne is the primary selling point to this but it probably isn't going to appeal to many people who watch it for him. It's easily one of his weakest roles.

Michael Morrison 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.

weezeralfalfa Jackson Morgan(John Wayne) was sure right. Jenny Blake(Joan Blondell): his partner in running the casino steamboat Memphis Belle, was crazy to encourage the fire she accidentally started on her boat("I'm burning my boats behind me" she remarked). We are spared the details of the conflagration, with many guests aboard. Would have been much more reasonable to have put out the fire and sell her half interest in the boat to Wayne, who didn't want to give it up. Very surprisingly, Wayne made no real attempt to put the fire out, just a complaint. Jenny was ecstatic that she had arm-twisted Alan Alderson into marrying her, so as to extinguish his unpayable gambling debts in return. Thus, she thought she had bought herself into the blueblood crowd around Memphis. But, as Wayne had warned her, it wasn't that simple. They would never fully accept her as one of them. But she believed she could accomplish anything she set her mind to. Joan and her maid, played by Hattie Noel, were certainly the most dynamic characters. Hattie showed her mettle by flattening the front door of the plantation manor where Jenny had moved, after being denied entry by the doorman Napoleon(true, unrealistic!). Joan was first billed over Wayne, and the most seen character. From 1939 through '42, when Wayne was paired with a well established lead actress, he was second billed. This happened 3 times with each of Clair Trevor, and Marlene Dietrich, and once with Joan Crawford, along with Joan, here. In this film, he's not very animated ,for the most part, mostly standing around talking. One exception is when he is told that the horse pulling the carriage Jenny is in is blind. He jumps in another carriage, pushes the driver out and speeds toward Jenny. Well, that horse sped down a twisty road, so it must have had some vision!Getting back to Hattie Noel, she wins my prize for the most charismatic actor. I had never seen her in a film before(and probably won't again), but she steals every scene she's in, and made me laugh various times. Her background was mostly in circuses, where she sang and danced, in vaudeville, and on the stage. She ran away at age 12 to join a carnival. She danced a bit here to the song played at Jenny's ball. Jenny brazenly thumbed her nose at the socially elite of Memphis at least 3 times in public, as well as on various private occasions. The first time is when she was elected queen of the Mardi Gras, and the elite clearly were shocked. She told them what she thought of them. The second is at her plantation ball, where she had invited a French dancing troupe to do the Can-Can. Of course, the guests where uniformly shocked, but Wayne voiced his approval by clapping his hands, followed by the others. The final time was during her trial for murdering her husband by poison. After her sentence, she gave a passionate speech that summed up her feelings toward the upper class. Another important player is Blanch Yurka, who played the evil Aunt Julia, who vehemently opposed the arrival of Jenny to the Alderson's, and, long ago had poisoned the fiancé of her sister: Aunt Katherine, who cowered in her shadow, probably afraid she would be poisoned if she got out of line. Katherine was the only member of the Alderson extended family who welcomed Jenny's arrival. One thing I don't understand: Why does Katherine keep a Civil War cavalry hat with a presumed bullet hole in it in her hope chest, if her fiancé was poisoned? There are several musical numbers, which add further variety to the drama and humor. On her casino boat, Joan leads a production centered on "Up in a Balloon", where she rises from the stage in a balloon basket at the end. Doloros Gray sings "Has Anybody Seen my Man", at The King's Club, which Wayne built after the Memphis Belle burned, and will eventually be co-owned by Jenny. . Then, a group of plantation African Americans sing and dance to "Ezekiel Saw De Wheel". Lastly, there's the French troupe dancing to Ta-ra-ra Boom-der-e, followed by the Can-Can.All in all, a very pleasant viewing experience, well done, with the reservation of some obviously implausible happenings. Presently available at Youtube

ianlouisiana Feeling low?Life getting you down?I've got just the thing for you..... "Lady for a night"(pun intentional?)set in Memphis during Mardi Gras with a cast of several,most of whom are masters of hyperbole.There are truly terrible songs,some dancing from Miss J.Blondell whose thighs are just a tad thick for such extreme exposure,a rather fey performance from Mr J.Wayne (and you don't see that very often) and an opening crowd scene that rapidly accelerates out of the control of director Leigh Jason - a man who was to gratefully grasp at the straw later offered to him by the nascent TV industry. Miss Hattie Noel is tremendous as Miss Blondell's maid.Forget the tremulous whispers of racism,this is a full - on portrait of a strong feisty black woman of her era.She is brash,confident,loud and very,very funny.It may be nominally Miss Blondell's movie,but it is Miss Noel I remember with the most pleasure. Full of Southern stereotypes with dodgy accents,"Lady for a night" satisfies all the criteria for a Camp Masterpiece.Miss Blondell's Gaming House looks as if it might fall down if someone leaned against a wall,Mr Wayne with a top hat is a sight to see indeed and the evil female relative is a dead ringer for Mrs Danvers. About as true a picture of The South as "Gone with the wind",but a whole lot funnier.You may boo and hiss at will - and you will most certainly laugh,loud and often.What more could you want?