"Night After Night" is one of the best clashing-of-the-classes movie of that era I've seen with "Anybody's Woman" being my favorite. In this movie Joe Anton (George Raft) of the underworld class wanted to hook up with Miss Jerry Healy (Constance Cummings) of the aristocratic class.
Joe ran a speakeasy in New York City. He was doing well for himself. He began as a low level gangster and worked his way up to a boss and now he wanted to polish himself so that he could impress Jerry Healy, the lady who came to his speakeasy alone and looked forlorn. Joe took history, culture, and grammar lessons with Miss Mabel Jellyman (Alison Skipworth), a hefty woman with excellent grammar and manners.
Joe wanted to impress Jerry, but he had a lot of characters around him that weren't going to make it easy for him. There was Iris (Wynne Gibson), his ex so-to-speak. Whatever she was to him, she loved him and wasn't going to let him go. Then there was Frankie Guard (Bradley Page), a rival gangster who wanted his speakeasy. There was Maudie Triplett (Mae West), an old pal who was anything but cultured. And to help him stay on point and run everything was Leo (Roscoe Karns), his number one man. Leo would be considered his chief of staff if Joe were president.
Joe was determined to meet Jerry and perhaps fall in love. And if that happened, he was going to get out of the game.
"Night After Night" was firing on all cylinders until the very end. The characters were excellent and they were all useful. Every character brought something to the table, especially Mae West's character Maudie.
I love Mae West. She belonged in a different era, she was so bold and cocksure. She was too much in "She Done Him Wrong," but she was perfect in "Night After Night." She was great--her flare, her swag, her moxy. She had it all in spades. And her pairing with Alison Skipworth was too delightful. The contrast of the proper and prim teacher played by Alison Skipworth against the street, unfiltered Maudie was magnificent. I could see the two of them in a buddy cop movie today. The two of them should've had a spinoff.
But as I stated, the movie did kind of falter at the end. I think it should've ended about ten minutes sooner when Joe went to Jerry's place to propose and wound up verbally undressing her.
Joe thought a kiss Jerry gave him meant something because a lady such as Jerry wouldn't kiss a guy unless it was for love. When she told him that the kiss didn't mean anything it was a bit refreshing. The last thing I wanted was for the facade of a socialite to be true as if every action they take is with purpose and devoid of frivolity. I wanted Joe to find out that the aristocratic world he was entering was full of phonies and fakes, and that they were no better than the raw folks he dealt with regularly.
When Jerry told him she didn't love him and that the kiss was just out of excitement--"what else was I supposed to do" was her answer--he took it hard. And when she said she was about to marry Dick Bolton (Louis Calhern) for his money it was a death knell. But he snapped back very quickly. In so many words he told her she wasn't squat. If he were the captain of a pirate ship he wouldn't even throw her to his men. It was a verbal lashing that cut so deep Jerry was half her size when he was done.
I thought that was an excellent place to stop the movie. This wasn't the romance Joe thought it was, now he could go back to the life and the world he knew and stop trying to gain entry into a world made for a different type of people. I hadn't seen a let-me-tell-you-something-about-yourself tongue lashing like his since Ruth Chatterton's character told off her high hat husband in "Anybody's Woman." It was one of the best, most complete, most brutally honest, and plainly put expositions of high society pretentiousness I'd seen from movies of that era. And it was soooooo enjoyable.
Then they had to go and ruin it.
Joe left Jerry, and he left her in such a way that anyone would think that was the end of their relationship, except it wasn't. Jerry went back to Joe's speakeasy to presumably give him a piece of her mind. "No one speaks to me that way and gets away with it," she said as though she had the power to do anything to Joe. What was patently obvious was that she must've felt something for him because who else takes a cab ride across town just to tell somebody off? Furthermore, when she got to his place she proceeded to destroy his room. At that point in time I knew she had feelings for Joe because her actions were those of a scorned lover, not a stranger who'd been insulted. It was either that or she was crazy.
Joe also knew from her actions that she had feelings for him. To prove it he forcibly kissed her, which was a common thing back then. At first she fought, but eventually she went limp which was the equivalent of confessing one's love and acceptance.
That final scene was all wrong and it marred an otherwise excellent movie.
Even before the violent kiss where Joe told her that she was looking for him to take her I was souring a bit. Bringing her back into the picture could only mean professions of love and that she really loved him etc., which to me is so bogus because the truth was she loved the excitement and the atmosphere which was so opposite her own upbringing.
Then the forced kiss happened.
On a sliding scale with one being least objectionable and ten being most, this was a six only because he read her right. In other words, her coming back to his place to wreck it is a move only a scorned lover would make. He knew she wanted him and he was 100% right. Still, grabbing her and kissing her unsolicited is a 30's trope that upsets me. It sent all the wrong messages to both men and women. And I think the trope is made worse when the women wilt in the man's arms. The message sent is, "Men. Women don't know what they want so you have to take them by force and show them that they do want you. They may resist at first, but after a short while they'll give in." It was a sucky message to end on for a movie that was doing so well.
Free on Internet Archive.
Joe ran a speakeasy in New York City. He was doing well for himself. He began as a low level gangster and worked his way up to a boss and now he wanted to polish himself so that he could impress Jerry Healy, the lady who came to his speakeasy alone and looked forlorn. Joe took history, culture, and grammar lessons with Miss Mabel Jellyman (Alison Skipworth), a hefty woman with excellent grammar and manners.
Joe wanted to impress Jerry, but he had a lot of characters around him that weren't going to make it easy for him. There was Iris (Wynne Gibson), his ex so-to-speak. Whatever she was to him, she loved him and wasn't going to let him go. Then there was Frankie Guard (Bradley Page), a rival gangster who wanted his speakeasy. There was Maudie Triplett (Mae West), an old pal who was anything but cultured. And to help him stay on point and run everything was Leo (Roscoe Karns), his number one man. Leo would be considered his chief of staff if Joe were president.
Joe was determined to meet Jerry and perhaps fall in love. And if that happened, he was going to get out of the game.
"Night After Night" was firing on all cylinders until the very end. The characters were excellent and they were all useful. Every character brought something to the table, especially Mae West's character Maudie.
I love Mae West. She belonged in a different era, she was so bold and cocksure. She was too much in "She Done Him Wrong," but she was perfect in "Night After Night." She was great--her flare, her swag, her moxy. She had it all in spades. And her pairing with Alison Skipworth was too delightful. The contrast of the proper and prim teacher played by Alison Skipworth against the street, unfiltered Maudie was magnificent. I could see the two of them in a buddy cop movie today. The two of them should've had a spinoff.
But as I stated, the movie did kind of falter at the end. I think it should've ended about ten minutes sooner when Joe went to Jerry's place to propose and wound up verbally undressing her.
Joe thought a kiss Jerry gave him meant something because a lady such as Jerry wouldn't kiss a guy unless it was for love. When she told him that the kiss didn't mean anything it was a bit refreshing. The last thing I wanted was for the facade of a socialite to be true as if every action they take is with purpose and devoid of frivolity. I wanted Joe to find out that the aristocratic world he was entering was full of phonies and fakes, and that they were no better than the raw folks he dealt with regularly.
When Jerry told him she didn't love him and that the kiss was just out of excitement--"what else was I supposed to do" was her answer--he took it hard. And when she said she was about to marry Dick Bolton (Louis Calhern) for his money it was a death knell. But he snapped back very quickly. In so many words he told her she wasn't squat. If he were the captain of a pirate ship he wouldn't even throw her to his men. It was a verbal lashing that cut so deep Jerry was half her size when he was done.
I thought that was an excellent place to stop the movie. This wasn't the romance Joe thought it was, now he could go back to the life and the world he knew and stop trying to gain entry into a world made for a different type of people. I hadn't seen a let-me-tell-you-something-about-yourself tongue lashing like his since Ruth Chatterton's character told off her high hat husband in "Anybody's Woman." It was one of the best, most complete, most brutally honest, and plainly put expositions of high society pretentiousness I'd seen from movies of that era. And it was soooooo enjoyable.
Then they had to go and ruin it.
Joe left Jerry, and he left her in such a way that anyone would think that was the end of their relationship, except it wasn't. Jerry went back to Joe's speakeasy to presumably give him a piece of her mind. "No one speaks to me that way and gets away with it," she said as though she had the power to do anything to Joe. What was patently obvious was that she must've felt something for him because who else takes a cab ride across town just to tell somebody off? Furthermore, when she got to his place she proceeded to destroy his room. At that point in time I knew she had feelings for Joe because her actions were those of a scorned lover, not a stranger who'd been insulted. It was either that or she was crazy.
Joe also knew from her actions that she had feelings for him. To prove it he forcibly kissed her, which was a common thing back then. At first she fought, but eventually she went limp which was the equivalent of confessing one's love and acceptance.
That final scene was all wrong and it marred an otherwise excellent movie.
Even before the violent kiss where Joe told her that she was looking for him to take her I was souring a bit. Bringing her back into the picture could only mean professions of love and that she really loved him etc., which to me is so bogus because the truth was she loved the excitement and the atmosphere which was so opposite her own upbringing.
Then the forced kiss happened.
On a sliding scale with one being least objectionable and ten being most, this was a six only because he read her right. In other words, her coming back to his place to wreck it is a move only a scorned lover would make. He knew she wanted him and he was 100% right. Still, grabbing her and kissing her unsolicited is a 30's trope that upsets me. It sent all the wrong messages to both men and women. And I think the trope is made worse when the women wilt in the man's arms. The message sent is, "Men. Women don't know what they want so you have to take them by force and show them that they do want you. They may resist at first, but after a short while they'll give in." It was a sucky message to end on for a movie that was doing so well.
Free on Internet Archive.