Lady for a Day
Lady for a Day | |
---|---|
Black and white | |
Production company | Columbia Pictures |
Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
Release date |
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Running time | 96 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Budget | $300,000 |
Lady for a Day is a 1933 American
Plot
The story focuses on Apple Annie, an aging and wretched fruit seller in New York City, whose daughter Louise has been raised in a Spanish convent since she was an infant. Louise has been led to believe her mother is a society matron named Mrs. E. Worthington Manville who lives at the Hotel Marberry. Annie discovers her charade is in danger of being uncovered when she learns Louise is sailing to New York with her fiancé Carlos and his father, Count Romero.
Among Annie's patrons are Dave the Dude, a gambling gangster who believes her apples bring him good luck, and his henchman Happy McGuire. Annie's friends from the street ask Dave to rent her an apartment at the Marberry and, although he initially declines, he has a change of heart and arranges for her to live in the lap of luxury in a palatial residence belonging to a friend. His girlfriend, nightclub owner Missouri Martin, helps transform Annie from a dowdy street peddler to an elegant dowager. Dave arranges for erudite pool hustler Henry D. Blake to pose as Annie's second husband, the dignified Judge Manville.
At the pier, an elegantly dressed Annie tearfully reunites with Louise. A group of Annie's friends from the streets are watching from a distance. One of the street people says that she can remember when Annie “always looked like that.” (We never know the details of Annie's history, but her upper-crust origins are clear.) When three society reporters become suspicious about Mrs. E. Worthington Manville, of whom they can find no public records, they are kidnapped by members of Dave's gang, and their prolonged disappearance leads the local newspapers to accuse the police department of incompetence.
A few days later, Blake – in the role of Judge Manville – announces he is planning a gala reception for Louise, Carlos, and Count Romero before they return to Spain, and he enlists Dave's guys and Missouri's dolls to pose as Annie's society friends. On the night of the reception, the police – certain Dave is responsible for the missing reporters – surround Missouri's club, where the gang has assembled for a final rehearsal. Dave calls Blake to advise him of their predicament, and Annie decides to confess everything to Count Romero. But fate – in the form of a sympathetic mayor and governor and their entourages – unexpectedly steps in and allows Annie to maintain her charade and keep Louise from learning the truth before she sails back to Spain with her husband-to-be.
Cast
- May Robson as Apple Annie
- Warren William as Dave the Dude
- Guy Kibbee as Henry D. Blake
- Glenda Farrell as Missouri Martin
- Ned Sparks as Happy McGuire
- Jean Parker as Louise - Annie's daughter
- Barry Norton as Carlos
- Walter Connolly as Count Romero
- Nat Pendleton as Shakespeare
- Halliwell Hobbes as Rodney Kent's Butler
- Hobart Bosworth as Governor
- Robert O'Connor as Inspector
- Samuel S. Hinds as Mayor [uncredited]
- Wallis Clark as Police Commissioner [uncredited]
Production
Damon Runyon's short story Madame La Gimp was published in the October 1929 issue of
Riskin had written his screenplay specifically for
Just prior to the first preview in Hollywood in early July 1933, the film's title was changed from Madame La Gimp to Beggars' Holiday, then changed again before the film premiered at Radio City Music Hall on September 7. It went into general release on September 13 and within a very short time earned $600,000, twice its budget and a substantial sum for the period. According to the contract he had negotiated prior to making the film, Capra received 10% of the net profits.[1] The film's success prompted the making of the 1934 film Lady by Choice, directed by David Burton and starring Carole Lombard. The only thing the two films have in common is Robson playing an alcoholic panhandler who has seen better days.[2][circular reference]
In the early 1950s, the original negative was lost while being transferred from one film lab to another for preservation work. For a period of time the only existing copy was a 35mm print owned by Capra, until he made a duplicate negative from it and donated a newly minted print to the Library of Congress. Columbia later sold the rights to the story to United Artists for $200,000, and Capra remade the film as Pocketful of Miracles with Bette Davis and Glenn Ford in 1961. The director claimed to prefer the remake to the original, although most critics and, in later years film historians and movie buffs, disagreed with his assessment.[1]
The "Apple Annie" story transformed into Capra's Lady For A Day (and Pocketful of Miracles) has long been considered a natural source for a stage musical and a number of prominent writers, including Jerry Herman, David Shire and Richard Maltby Jr; the team of John Kander and Fred Ebb have all worked on unfinished and unrealized adaptations.[citation needed]
Critical reception
When first shown at the
Variety said the film "asks the spectator to believe in the improbable. It's Hans Christian Andersen stuff written by a hard-boiled journalist and transferred to the screen by trick-wise Hollywoodites. While not stinting a full measure of credit to director Frank Capra, it seems as if the spotlight of recognition ought to play rather strongly on scriptwriter Robert Riskin."[4]
Channel 4 calls it "wonderfully improbable and charming" and, although "not a bona fide Capra classic," it is "cracking fun all the same."[5]
Awards and nominations
Lady for a Day was nominated for the Academy Award for Best Picture but lost to Cavalcade. May Robson was nominated Best Actress but lost to Katharine Hepburn in Morning Glory, and Robert Riskin lost the Academy Award for Best Adapted Screenplay to Sarah Y. Mason and Victor Heerman for Little Women.
Will Rogers presented the Academy Award for Best Director, and when he opened the envelope he simply announced, "Come up and get it, Frank!" Capra, certain he was the winner, ran to the podium to collect his Oscar, only to discover Rogers had meant Frank Lloyd, who won for Cavalcade, instead. Possibly to downplay Capra's gaffe, Rogers then called third nominee George Cukor to join the two Franks on stage.[1]
Home media
References
- ^ ISBN 0-671-73494-6, pp. 288-292, 294-296, 298-302, 309-310
- ^ Lady by Choice - Wikipedia
- ^ Hall, Mourdant (September 8, 1933). "Movie review—Lady for a Day (1933): May Robson as a white-haired Cinderella in the new film at the Radio City Music Hall", New York Times, nytimes.com, accessed March 21, 2012.
- ^ "Film review—Lady for a Day", Variety, December 31, 1932, variety.com, accessed March 21, 2012.
- ^ Channel 4 review
- ^ Reuben, Michael (March 2, 2012). "Lady for a Day Blu-ray review: fairy tales can come true and classics can be rescued", blu-ray.com, accessed March 21, 2012.
External links
- Lady for a Day at IMDb
- Lady for a Day at the TCM Movie Database
- Lady for a Day at AllMovie
- Lady for a Day at the American Film Institute Catalog
- Lady for a Day at Rotten Tomatoes
- Lady for a Day on Lux Radio Theater: May 1, 1939