Runtime: 72 minutes
Directed by: William A. Wellman
Starring: Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, Joan Blondell, Clark Gable, Blanche Friderici
From: Warner Bros.
For the purposes of adding more variety into what I review-not to mention, some recent followers are fans of Old Hollywood-I finally got around to a film I've known of for years now. It is decidedly Pre-Code: the movie is so horny, stars Barbara Stanwyck & Joan Blondell are shown in their underwear a few times each, totally gratuitously!
Those two dames are both nurses, Babs just hired basically due to her appearance rather than meeting all the qualifications-long story. They deal with a real battleaxe of a head nurse—she is easily mocked. After a first act that has some laughs, it becomes much more serious as the duo take care of two ill children of a rich woman where there's such things as the kids being mistreated, the socialite mom is an alcoholic and their chauffeur is Clark Gable who does decidedly non Clark Gable things in being a psychopath who punches multiple people, including women. Heck, there's even a sexual assault at one point.
Minor quibbles aside, it was an enjoyable (if dark) 72 minute experience. Gable managed to do well in an atypical part for him but it was Stanwyck & Blondell who were the standouts. It was especially easy to root for Barbara as the lead as she tries to help two little girls while using some scrappy street smarts. Even if there are some stereotypes present, at least there's a good deed done in the first act which is repaid in the finale. Wild this was, but at least it also had some heart.
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