Movie Time: Lady For A Day

 It's Movie Time!

Today's movie goes back to before the Hays Movie Production Code, a film that debuted on this date (September 13th) in 1933!

Yep, that's a long time ago!

Directed by Frank Capra, it's Lady For A Day.  

Our story centers on an old woman known as "Apple Annie" who eeks out a meager existence in her wretched life selling apples.  Her back bent from age and hard living, her clothes little better than rags, Annie is just part of the cast off refuse of New York City.

But Annie has a secret life where she is the belle of the ball, a distinguished matron of New York high society known as Mrs. E. Worthington Manville who lives at the exclusive and swanky Hotel Marberry. 

Well, that's what she says in her letters to her daughter Louise who lives in Spain.  Louise began her life an infant raised in a Spanish convent and has grown up without ever meeting her mother.

But Louise wants to change that. She's sailing to New York with her fiancé Carlos and his father, Count Romero (A count?! Oh my!) to finally meet her mother.

Well, this could be a problem.

• Annie is NOT a distinguished matron of New York high society.
• She is NOT Mrs. E. Worthington Manville
• And she is most certainly NOT a resident at the exclusive and swanky Hotel Marberry. 

Annie is worried sick her daughter will find out she's a poor, wretched street person and hate her forever.

Annie is desparate and despondent, completely without hope.

But that's when Dave the Dude comes in.

Dave the Dude is a gambling gangster who never makes a big bet with out buying an apple from Apple Annie.  As much as Dave is beholden to his superstitious obsession that Annie' apples bring him good luck with his gambling, he is reluctant to get involved in her shenanigans.

But in spite of his flinty gangster exterior, Dave the Dude is a big ol' softy and takes pity on Annie. Besides, doing a nice thing for his good luck charm could only bring more good luck, right?

Dave's top minion, a perpetually gloomy gus named (of course) "Happy" thinks this is stupid and his boss has better things he should be doing.

But Dave is going to do this anyway.   

So the wheels get into motion.

Dave rents her a suite at the Marberry.

He arranges for his girlfriend, nightclub owner Missouri Martin, to give Annie a complete makeover with a new hairdo and wardrobe befitting a distinguished matron of New York high society.

Dave recruits Henry Blake, con man and pool hustler, to portray Annie's erudite and sophisticate husband, Judge Manville.

The meet up when the ship comes in goes well as Louise is happy to finally meet her high society mother.  Louise's fiancé Carlos is also delighted to meet his future mother in law but his father the Count seems to be bit wary.

Can the ruse be maintained over the next few days? 

Dave's minion Happy doesn't think so. 

Things get complicated when "Judge Manville" announces he and "Mrs. Manville" are throwing a gala party to welcome Louise, her fiance and his father.  

The plot to keep Apple Annie in the lifestyle of Mrs. E. Worthington Manville is complex and keeps getting complexier with Annie's friends from the street and Dave's gangster minions weaving in and out the picture to maintiain the illusion of her high society status.  

And all this activity by Dave the Dude has not escaped the notice of the press and the police. What nefarious scheme is the notorious gangster up to?  

Things threaten to fall apart all the time just as the perpetually grumpy "Happy" expected they would.

The "It's That Person Who Was In That Thing" Department

Glenda Farrell who played Missouri Martin was Torchy Blaine in Smart Blonde.   

Warren William who portrayed Dave the Dude played Perry Mason in a number of films including The Case of the Lucky Legs.   

Annie/Mrs. Manville was played May Robson who was Elizabeth Carlton Random, Susan's aunt, in Bringing Up Baby. Robson was frequently cast as the rich dowager type so her performance as the poor outcast Annie is a bit of a revelation.

Lady For a Day  was the first film for which Frank Capra received an Academy Award nomination for Best Director and the first Columbia Pictures release to be nominated for Best Picture. Capra also directed its 1961 remake, Pocketful of Miracles. Capra insisted the remake was a better picture but most film historians disagree.  

Lady For a Day does leave some questions unanswered.

The circumstances of Louise's birth. How did she wind up being cared for in a convent in Spain?  We can assume there was some sort of scandal: the baby was born out of wedlock, perhaps? Or Annie had some kind of breakdown maybe? The movie offers no details.

There is a hint that Annie's fantasy life of being a rich high society women may not be completely fantasy, that she really was once such a woman but suffered a serious fall from grace that left her on the street, impoverished and alone. But no details are forthcoming.

And what happens after Louise heads back to Spain? Will Annie have to return to her life of squalor and poverty? What happens when Louise decides to visit again? Is Dave the Dude just going to keep Louise ensconced at the Hotel Marberry?

Overall, Lady For a Day is a pleasant enough discovery filled with humor and heart. It may not be a Frank Capra classic but it  points the way to more famous films to come such as It's A Wonderful Life.