Welcome to another page in the Oscar Film Journal, here at Enuffa.com!
Still in the 1930s weeds (Hey, there's a veritable treasure trove of public domain films on YouTube), and today it's an early Frank Capra talkie, Lady for a Day, starring Warren William and May Robson. Based on a short story called Madame La Gimp, LFAD centers on a destitute fruit vendor named Apple Annie, who lives in a tiny apartment in Depression Era New York City. Annie has a daughter Louise who's lived in a Spanish convent since she was a child (We're never told who the father was or why Louise was taken away), with whom she keeps written correspondence, under the pretense that she's a well-to-do dowager. But one day Annie gets a letter saying Louise is engaged to the son of a wealthy Spanish count who insists on meeting his in-laws before he'll agree to the marriage, and that the three of them are en route to NYC by boat. Terrified of being found out, Annie begs one of her customers, a gangster and gambler named Dave the Dude, to set her up with a room in the fancy hotel where he lives. Dave initially refuses but Annie's fellow street peddlers convince him to help with the charade, and Dave himself doesn't want to lose Annie as a vendor because he thinks her apples bring him luck. Thus Apple Annie becomes Mrs. E. Worthington Manville. But things get a little complicated when reporters start asking questions, and Dave and his henchmen are forced to kidnap them for a little while. The scheme must go off without a hitch despite everyone involved being a phony, and Dave and his goons must also evade the snooping police department...
Lady for a Day is a borderline screwball comedy but while its premise is pretty ridiculous, it's grounded in pathos, true to Capra form. For the film's first half Robson serves as a strong emotional center; we truly feel for this pathetic character, as her relationship with her long-lost daughter is all she has in the world. But she's surrounded by over-the-top 30s gangster stereotypes, fast-talking and scheming their way through the picture. Warren William is gruff but likable as Dave, a mobster with a heart of gold, while other standouts include Guy Kibbee as an intellectual pool shark who poses as Annie's second husband, and Ned Sparks as Happy McGuire, Dave's right-hand man, in probably the film's most amusing performance.
The story itself isn't overly engaging and the way it resolves answers the superficial question "Will Annie pull off this subterfuge so her daughter can get married?" but ignores the follow-ups like "What happens after Louise goes home? Is Annie returned to the streets to go back to selling apples? Will Dave the Dude end up in prison for kidnapping reporters? What happens if Louise and her new husband decide to visit again?" This is one of those films whose universe ends when the closing credits go up. Best to turn your brain off.
Nor is there much to care about between Louise and her fiancé Carlos, aside from the question of whether or not their marriage will be derailed. The script includes a couple obligatory scenes between them in an attempt to create romantic tension, but we don't really maintain interest in them as people. This has to be one of the least compelling young couples in cinema history. Hell, Louise and Annie barely share any screen time considering how much the film builds to their first in-person meeting. But LDAF an entertaining enough farce, held together by an Oscar-nominated performance from Robson, who unfortunately has much less to do once Louise and her entourage arrive on the scene.
I give the film *** out of ****.
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