The meat of the movie is in the last two-thirds, where the hospital sends the two young women out to care for two children who are being slowly starved by their absentee mother’s chauffeur (Clark Gable, just before he became a star) in a scheme to get his hands on their trust fund. When Laura can’t get the attention of Mrs. Ritchey (Charlotte Merriam), she bucks the authority of the doctor on the case (Ralf Harolde), whom Nick the chauffeur has paid off, and she’s fearless in her dealings with Nick himself, who’s quick to knock her down when she interferes with his ambitions.
It’s a tough-minded, likable picture. Wellman and the writers make no attempt to glamorize the Park Avenue setting: Mrs. Ritchey is a pathetic souse who runs a 24-hour party in her salon while her kids are fighting for their lives in a cramped, cheerless nursery. Everyone who’s seen the movie remembers the scene where Laura walks through room after room, looking for Mrs. Ritchey to tell her how dire the condition of the younger child is, while the guests laugh at her and offer no assistance. When she finds Mrs. Ritchey, the woman has just time to murmur a blurry defense of her lifestyle before passing out on the floor. Stanwyck stands over her, arms akimbo, and spits out a succinct ironic judgment: “You mother.” It’s a quintessential pre-Code moment, and one of the great ones in Stanwyck’s meteoric early career.
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I found it well-directed, sexy, schlocky, and sublime.
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Features
, Entertainment, Movies, John Wayne, More
, Entertainment, Movies, John Wayne, William Wellman, George Brent, Sylvia Sidney, Barbara Stanwyck, Greta Garbo, Clark Gable, Less
