Night Nurse (1931)

Hellooo, nurse! Leonard Maltin introduces this "sordid and seamy" entry in the Forbidden Hollywood series of vintage pre-Hays Code melodramas that scandalized audiences with their prurient content. Dated to be sure (when was the last time you heard about crooks taking someone "for a ride?"), but this 1931 gem directed by William Wellman (Public Enemy) is still pretty strong medicine. It has sassy dialogue ("You can't show me anything," a doctor tells two comely interns changing into their uniforms, "I just came from the delivery room") and a potent plot about two children being starved to death for their trust fund by a scheming chauffeur. Barbara Stanwyck is just what the doctor ordered as aspiring nurse Laura Hart, with saucy Joan Blondell as Maloney, her wisecracking buddy ("There's only one guy in the world who can do a nurse any good," she advises Laura, "a patient with dough"). In an early villainous role that put him on the Hollywood map, Clark Gable costars as Eddie, the chauffeur, who dispenses a sock in the jaw (off-screen) to Stanwyck's kisser when she interferes in this "screwy case." Ben Lyon is Mortie, the good-hearted bootlegger, who comes to Laura's rescue. --Donald Liebenson Amazon.com essential video

it's enough to make her want to burn the place down

Night Nurse is a gripping, taut drama starring the great Barbara Stanwyck, Joan Blondell and a rather young Clark Gable. The convincing acting always held my attention and the plot moves along at a good pace.

The action begins when Lora Hart (Barbara Stanwyck) gets a job as a nurse trainee at a hospital--after she shows a little bit of her leg to Dr. Arthur Bell (Charles Winninger), that is. Lora soon meets and befriends another nurse trainee named B. Maloney (Joan Blondell).

One night during Lora's internship she treats a bootlegger for a bullet wound and out of kindness she lets him go without filing a police report. He's mighty grateful to her and promises they'll be "pals" from there on in.

After Lora and Maloney graduate nursing school they get jobs being private nurses for two very sick little girls in a rather wealthy household. Lora, the night nurse, soon suspects that the girls are being malnourished so that they will literally die of starvation. Things heat up further when she meets Nick, the chauffeur (Clark Gable), and the doctor assigned to the case, Dr. Ranger (Ralf Harolde).

Yes, Lora suspects that the children are being slowly but surely murdered--but is she correct? Why would anyone want these two adorable little girls to be murdered? What could happen to Lora is she speaks out about the problem? How will the bottlegger figure into the action? No spoilers here, folks, you'll just have to watch the movie to find out!

The choreography works well in the hospital scenes; and I liked the cinematography as well.

Overall, Night Nurse is an excellent pre-Code film that deals with the darker side of the human experience. Fans of Barbara Stanwyck will be delighted to see her act so well in one of her earliest films; and Joan Blondell fans will like this one, too. Look also for a fine performance from the great Clark Gable.
January 9, 2008

Hardboiled Thriller from William "Wild Bill" Wellman

This is an impressive hard-boiled 1931 thriller that has lost none of its allure or vigor. I have always liked thrillers set in places where strange goings-on captivate the imagination. Barbara Stanwyck is excellent as the nurse outstanding in her unsentimental approach. Joan Blondell also stands out with her vivacious and humorous performance. Clark Gable, in an early role, demonstrates the masculine allure and screen presence that shot him into stardom. This is an outstanding thriller directed by William "Wild Bill" Wellman who was truly one of the greats but has been unfairly overlooked.
December 2, 2007

A great precode to be in Forbidden Hollywood Volume 2

This is truly a great precode starring that queen of the precodes Barbara Stanwyck. However, in this particular movie Barbara is not the femme fatale she often plays. Instead she a nurse working the night shift. During her tenure she encounters two children that are mysteriously wasting away. It turns out there is a plot to do away with the children, and the steely Barbara, along with a rather shady male companion, work together to solve the mystery and save the children.

I would advise you, though, to not buy this VHS version, which is only available used and is often hard to find and expensive, and instead wait for Forbidden Hollywood Volume 2, due for release in March 2008. Included will be The Divorcee, A Free Soul, Three on a Match, Female, and this film. There will also be a documentary on the precode era included in the set. None of the films are planned to be released separately. November 10, 2007

Raw And Rugged Warner Bros Pre Code Gem

When you combine the pre code era of Hollywood film making, Warner Brothers Studios, and no nonsense star Barbara Stanwyck in the one package you really have a movie marriage made in heaven and that's just what you get in "Night Nurse". Here we have a rough, raw and no holds barred story about the dark side of the medical profession and the equally dark characters that inhabit it. Undeniably a product of its time (1931), this little movie pulls no punches in its stark depiction of medical malpractice, child abuse, bootlegging and violence towards women who "get out of line and ask too many questions". Unemcumbered by the later Hays Code restrictions on what was exceptable on screen from 1934, "Night Nurse" is wildly entertaining and manages to get away with many things on screen that would have been unthinkable 5 years later.

"Night Nurse", provided Barbara Stanwyck with one of her most vivid early roles and the image of the straight talking, no nonsense gal who could mix it with the tough guys was one which became forever associated with her in her screen work. Here she plays Lora Hart a dedicated young trainee nurse who strives to become good at her profession despite initial fainting spells during operations. Graduating from her studies she teams up with fellow nurse B Maloney (Joan Blondell) and after one late night too many getting back into the nurses quarters at the hospital both women find themselves assigned as night nurses to a Mrs. Ritchey who's two sick children Lora had nursed earlier in the hospital. Very soon after taking up her duties Lora begins to notice that things are not as they should be in the house as the two children are daily growing weaker and Mrs Ritchey is in a constant state of drunkenness and doesn't seem to be responsible for her own actions. Lora also cannot get any assistance from the families doctor who is never available and will not respond to any of Lora's protests about the childrens declining health. During her night sessions at the house Lora also makes the acquaintance of Mrs Richley's sadistic chauffeur Nick (a rising Clark Gable), who seems to call the shots with anything to do with the family and has a decidly hostile reaction to Lora's interference in any family matters. As the children grow weaker and are on the verge of starvation Lora decides to take action and asks for the assistance of her sometime beau bootlegger Mortie (Ben Lyon) who she once assisted with a gun shot wound at the hospital, and upright Dr. Bell (Charles Winninger) who she has check on the children's health. It is revealed the Nick and the family doctor have hatched a scheme to slowly starve the two children to death in order to be able to get their hands on a sizable trust fund that belongs to them. They have been keeping their mother Mrs. Ritchey constantly drunk so that Nick can marry her and take the inheritance off her. When Nick learns of Lora's interference he goes after her and in the fateful finale after having earlier socked Lora in the mouth thinking it would deter her finds himself on the receiving end of some of Mortie's rough boys who "arrange" a little accident to remove Nick from the scene. All ends on a hopefully upbeat manner with Lora firstly providing the donour blood to give the little girl a badly needed blood transfusion and then setting off to report the scheme to the police. Also because of his help Mortie finally gets his sweetheart and he and Lora hopefully begin a new life together.

"Night Nurse", has that pre code realistic feel to the proceedings despite its at times melodramatic story twists. Barbara Stanwyck dominates the proceedings as the essentailly kindly nurse who wont settle for leaving things as they are when she smells a rat. The supporting cast including Clark Gable in one of his very early thug roles is really top rate. Warners regular Joan Blondell is terrific as Lora's sassy fellow nurse and her gum chewing, sarcastic delivery is just perfect for this type of hard edged melodrama and was the kind of role she played in dozens of films over the 1930's decade. Blanche Frederici as the concerned housekeeper has an almost comical role in the serious proceedings especially when she is telling a threatening Nick that "you sure dont frighten me!" and especially when she gives her own unique solution to the children's near death from starvation "I wish you'd try a milk bath, it saved my sister's baby!". Ben Lyon does well in the likeable role of Mortie the bootlegger who despite his shady business has a heart of gold who will do anything for his sweetheart Lora, even resorting to rubbing out Nick if needed. His is a classic early 30's performance. Based on a racy early novel by Dora Macy, "Night Nurse", has that rough hewn, rugged look that makes it a perfect Warner Brothers production. Directed at lightening speed by William Wellman who was resonsible for the classic "A Star is Born", in 1937, the film tells its story in a crisp, no frills manner. The real power in this story comes in the scenes between Stanwyck and Gable. Their chemistry here despite not being romantically paired in the story is electric and quite brutal in its physical force and it's a pity the two only worked together once more in the average "To Please a Lady".

"Night Nurse", is a fun excursion into the far off world of sly grog, bootleggers and "dames" that could deliver the goods just as well as any man. With its cleaning up of Hollywood's moral standards from 1934, the Hays Code effectively made these types of films an extinct species more the pity. Over the top and dated "Night Nurse", certainly is but it still manages to make many pertinent points about the medical profession. Human nature in general also is given a harsh no frills examination here and thats what makes films like "Night Nurse", such interesting viewing today. If you like Barbara Stanwyck in her most street smart roles where she fears no man then you are sure to enjoy "Night Nurse". Highly recommended viewer for film buffs. March 10, 2004

Night Nurse: They Don't Make 'Em Like This Any More

NIGHT NURSE was one of the last movies to come out of Hollywood that were untouched by the politically correct morality of the day: the Hays Code. Too many stuffed shirts were troubled by the exactly the same power and electricity that infused films like NIGHT NURSE. Director William Wellman shows the sleazy underside of a medical profession that has not changed materially since 1932. Far too many doctors were in it only for the big bucks while the true blue torchcarriers of Hippocrates were the nurses. Barbara Stanwyck is Delores Hart who works hard to finish nursing school and is simply bursting with youthful enthusiasm to heal the sick. As you see Stanwyck brush up against and battle the entrenched medical Powers That Be, you can see the early vibrant Stanwyck who filled her roles with a gusto that has not been equalled since. Joan Blondell is Maloney, her wisecracking platinum blond nurse buddy who spends a surprising amount of time with Stanwyck undressing. Almost certainly it was the abundance of female flesh that contributed to the revival of a Hollywood puritanism. The plot is straight out of a grade B script. A determined Stanwyck suspects that two children in her care are being ruthlessly starved to death so her heartless mother can collect from their trust fund. Clark Gable as Nick the chauffeur has one of his early roles as a degenerate cad who actually pops Stanwyck right in the snoot.

NIGHT NURSE is full of the promise of fun, adventure, drama, and characters worth booing and hissing that marked many of the pre-Code films. In this case, director Wellman and cast deliver on these promises in such a way that you don't even notice that this film is more than 70 years old. True style and talent have a habit of not going out of style. May 29, 2003

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