Lady by Choice

Fan dancer Carole Lombard 'adopts' tippler bag lady May Robson as her mother in order to improve Carole's public image. The old lady winds up becoming a mother figure to Carole and tries to help her become successful in a more respectable career. But when that falls through, Carole starts to date a young lawyer friend of May's for his money. This creates a rift between the two women and May determines to stop Carole from taking advantage of the lawyer.

May Robson is great. Carole Lombard is beautiful and has good chemistry with May. Fine support from Walter Connolly, Roger Pryor, and Arthur Hohl. Lady for a Day is one of my favorite Frank Capra films. It has great Damon Runyon characters, fun dialogue, and a lot of heart. This is a cash-grab follow-up to that movie but not a sequel. May Robson plays a similar character but this is not Apple Annie. None of the characters in this movie are quite as colorful or enjoyable as those in the Capra movie. Still, it's entertaining enough thanks to Lombard and Robson.

She is the basic motif for see this lovely film, nice, sweet, charming. because Carole Lombard has her ordinary job and Walter Connolly has the status of glue of a so familiar story about love, money, succes and values. May Robson does more than an inspired character but she has the gift to translate the spirit of a great way to discover the world . and this is the gift of this film who has the virtue to be a trip in past. sure, a film more as slice from the spirit of a time than a great artistic work. but good opportunity for fair smile and comfortable atmosphere. and this is one of real good points of a movie who propose the flavor of a lost period.

Fan dancer Carole Lombard is retired by order of judge Walter Connolly. When publicity man Raymond Walburn comes up with the idea that she adopt a mother, she chooses May Robson, a rowdy drunk she met in Connolly's court. It as if Apple Annie were adopted by Sally Rand. But Robson takes her duties as a mother seriously.

The first half of this movie is an unrelieved delight, with Robson basically doing the role she had performed a month earlier for Capra, and which would gain her an Oscar nomination. Miss Lombard is hilarious and crude and sexy, and the comedy is nicely balanced with sentiment as the two women take to each other. However, in the second half, when te efforts to fix Miss Lombard fail, the money runs out, and a marriage with Roger Pryor becomes the main plot, everything falls apart. The humor vanishes, people change their minds to suit the exigencies of the plot, and I lost interest. Everyone continues to offer fine performances. These are all seasoned professionals. But the story telling collapses, as does the efforts at comedy.

May Robson plays a boozier and meaner version of Apple Annie from her prior film, LADY FOR A DAY (directed by Frank Capra), though it is essentially the same character with a different name. My assumption is that the studio head (Harry Cohn) just couldn't resist reprising the character since she went over so well the year before in the Capra film.

Robson's character, Patsy, has already been arrested seven times this year for being drunk and disorderly and by now the judge has had enough and forces her to go to an old folks home. However, Patsy isn't the type to retire and when she sees a chance to escape, she does. That's because publicity seeking fan dancer, Carole Lombard, decides to do a publicity stunt and adopt a sweet old lady (complete with the press and photographers on hand to get the story). However, while it originally was done on a lark, Lombard likes the idea of doing this for real and so she keeps Robson on hand to try and reform her and give her life purpose.

However, despite her intentions, it ends up that Patsy is Lombard's benefactress. After winning a lot of dough gambling, she pays to give Lombard singing, acting and dancing lessons. When this doesn't pay off, she sets her sights to helping Lombard get control of her life. But, when Lombard sets out to snag a rich lawyer just because he was rich, Robson and Lombard have a falling out and you'll just have to see the rest of the film to find out what happens next.

The film has some excellent acting and is a nice breezy film. It's neither as deep or satisfying as LADY FOR A DAY, but is still well worth seeing. A nice romantic fantasy film.

May Robson and Carole Lombard are both excellent as something like mother and daughter in this fast moving and enjoyable comedy.

Robson is the likable but down-and-out hard drinker who winds up before judge Walter Connolly for starting a riot in a bar; it's her seventh or eighth time up on charges, and he finally sends her off to a home for old ladies.

Meanwhile, fan dancer Lombard is brought into the same courtroom for a morals code violation—actually a failed publicity stunt arranged by her agent.

Setting out to find some good publicity, Lombard hits on the idea of "adopting" a mother. Discovering Robson in the old ladies' home, Lombard takes her home, dresses her up, calls up some reporters, and has some pictures taken. The plan is to quickly pay off the old lady and get her to scram; however, the two women begin to get acquainted….

The rest of the plot is hardly surprising; Lombard sums it up nicely at one point: "I did it for a publicity gag. But she got under my skin."

Roger Pryor is fine as the lawyer who has an old family connection with Robson, and takes an interest in Lombard. Walter Connolly is excellent as usual as the judge—though he puts on many faces (stern, concerned, exasperated) he is of course at heart an old softie.

No huge surprises but quite satisfying overall; the plot and script are no great shakes but it's all made more than worthwhile by top efforts from Lombard and Robson.