Lady for a Night ** (1942, Joan Blondell, John Wayne, Ray Middleton, Philip Merivale, Blanche Yurka) – Classic Movie Review 10,945

‘ANOTHER GREAT HEROINE – Remember JEZEBEL?… SCARLETT O’HARA?… Jenny Blake is another impulsive lass from the South who defied social conventions to satisfy her burning ambitions.’

Director Leigh Jason’s 1941 black and white Republic Pictures mix of comedy, romance and thriller Lady for a Night stars the deservedly popular Joan Blondell as Jenny Blake, the blonde boss of a Mississippi gamblers’ riverboat, who decides to become a society lady.

She throws over her gambler beau Jack Morgan (John Wayne) in order to marry wealthy high society family boy Alan Alderson (Ray Middleton) in return for cancelling out his casino debts, and then gets charged with murder when Middleton’s auntie Aunt Julia (Blanche Yurka) tries to kill her but kills him instead.

Two years after his superstar breakthrough Stagecoach, John Wayne is still second stringing to Blondell as her romantic interest in this humble, none-too-persuasive costume-drama thriller.

Blondell is a very enjoyable class act, and, though they deserve better material, the film is of interest for the stars, as well as the period attitudes, backgrounds and costumes on show. But the film lacks excitement and Jason directs at a slow pace with boring pauses for songs: Up in a Balloon, Has Anybody Seen My Man?, Ezekiel Saw De Wheel, and Ta-ra-ra Boom-der-é.

Isabel Dawn and Boyce DeGaw’s screenplay is based on a story by Garrett Fort.

Also in the cast are Ray Middleton, Philip Merivale, Blanche Yurka, Edith Barrett, Leonid Kinskey, Dorothy Burgess, Montagu Love, Guy Usher, Margaret Armstrong, Ivan Miller, Carmel Myers, Betty Hill, Pierre Watkin, Gertrude Astor, Minerva Urecal, Hattie Noel, Dolores Gray, Patricia Knox, Lew Payton and Dewey Robinson.

© Derek Winnert 2021 Classic Movie Review 10,945

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