Lady for a day
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | Lady for a day |
| Original title | Lady for a day |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 1933 |
| length | 92 minutes |
| Rod | |
| Director | Frank Capra |
| script | Robert Riskin |
| production | Harry Cohn |
| music | Howard Jackson |
| camera | Joseph Walker |
| cut | Gene Havlick |
| occupation | |
| |
Lady for a Day is an American comedy film directed by Frank Capra. The production, whose script is based on the story Madame la Gimp by Damon Runyon, was shot in 1933. The film premiered on September 7, 1933 in New York. In Germany, the film was first broadcast as a television premiere on October 31, 1993.
action
Annie is a fruit seller in New York. She is under the protection of gangster Dave the Duke, who believes her apples bring him luck. Nobody knows Annie has a daughter. Louise lives in a convent in Spain and receives letters that her mother sends with the help of the hotel porter Oscar. In the letters she describes herself as a lady of society by the name of Mrs. Worthington Manville.
Louise wants to come to New York to visit her fiancé Carlos and his father Count Romero. At the same time, Dave and his helper Happy are looking for Annie. In Annie's apartment they come across a photo of Louise. Annie's friends, who know about the stories about Louise, want to rent a suite for her at the Hotel Marberry, where Oscar works. They ask Dave for help, but Dave initially refuses. But then he changes his mind and puts Annie in the hotel. His friend Missouri Martin teaches Annie how to behave in good company. It occurs to Martin that Annie needs a husband. They get Judge Blake, a gambling addict billiards player, to impersonate Judge Manville and thus the husband of the now very attractive Annie.
Louise arrives by ship in New York and is greeted by Annie. Blake leads the group to the waiting cars. At the same time, Happy tries to distract the police officers present from his boss Dave by kidnapping a reporter. After three days, Blake wants to give a farewell party because he and Annie want to go to Spain. Dave is upset, but he promises to help. He organized the farewell and had his men and women, like Annie, trained to become members of higher society. In addition, three other reporters are kidnapped, which brings police inspector McCreary a reprimand from his captain for not being able to find the missing reporters. The mayor also reprimands the captain for this. They all vow to fire their subordinates if the problem is not resolved.
The reporter kidnapped by Happy was able to free himself and is now accusing Dave. On the evening of the farewell, the police surround Martins Club, where the trained men and women hold a dress rehearsal for the party. At the same time, Blake and the Count play billiards. Blake wants to invest the profit on Louise's trousseau. Blake wins and receives a call from Dave stating that he and his people are trapped in the club. Annie is desperate and wants to confess the truth to the Count. At the same time, McCreary arrests Dave. Dave threatens the reporters will never show up again if he can't go through with his party plan. The inspector takes Dave to the mayor, who is giving a party for the governor. Dave explains the situation to the governor.
Just as Annie is about to tell the Count and Louise the truth, the governor arrives with his guests. He claims to be invited by Annie. The farewell party is a complete success. Finally, the governor has the departing take to the ship with a police escort. All superiors are satisfied, and the reporters who have returned are asked to explain their absence by saying that they celebrated together. Dave is released and Annie's story remains.
Reviews
The reviewer Pem judged Lady for one day in December 1935 in Der Morgen - Wiener Montagblatt : “A satire on all social swindles , a truly real comedy was brilliantly staged by Frank Capra. How the double-bottomedness [sic] of life shimmers through all the dialogues and all the events is a masterpiece, an experience. A film that you have to see. "
The lexicon of international films describes the film as a "soulful and funny film adaptation" . He is "Frank Capra's first big cinema success" .
Variety praises the film as " balanced and elegantly staged ". The ironic portrayal of the butler, whose actor “ earned the epaulets ” , is especially emphasized .
Awards
In 1934 the film was nominated four times for an Oscar, but received nothing at the award ceremony. The film was nominated in the following categories: Best Film , Best Director (Frank Capra), Best Actress (May Robson) and Best Screenplay (Robert Riskin).
background
The Columbia Pictures production was a box office success and in 1933 brought in the enormous sum of around 600,000 US dollars for the time.
Director Capra, who was under contract with MGM , was loaned to Columbia for $ 50,000 to direct a film called Soviet . The project was dropped, however, and Capra began filming this film. Many of the actors have also been loaned from other studios. William, Kibbee and Farrell were under contract with Warner Bros. , Robson, Connolly and Parker with MGM. Nat Pendleton began his acting career in 1924, four years after winning the silver medal in wrestling at the 1920 Olympic Games in Antwerp .
For Frank Capra it was the first nomination for one of his directorial works. For Columbia it was also the first Academy Award nomination for a film as best film.
Halliwell Hobbes, who played Bulters John, was often hired in the role of the butler, while Robert Emmett O'Connor was subscribed to the role of the policeman. Ward Bond can be seen in a minor supporting role as a police officer . The later director and producer Stanley Kramer worked on this film as a production assistant.
Stephen Goosson was responsible for setting the film .
In 1934 David Butler shot a loose sequel. The title of the film was "Lady for a Choice ". The main roles played Carole Lombard and again May Robson. Walter Connolly also had a supporting role in the film, which has not yet been shown in Germany.
With his last film, Frank Capra made a remake of the film ( The Lower Ten Thousand ) in 1961 with Bette Davis and Glenn Ford . In 1989, Damon Runyon's story was remade by Jackie Chan in a Hong Kong production with the title "Qiji" (Eng .: Miracles ). In this film, however, the martial arts of the main actor and director Chan are in the foreground.
Web links
- Lady for a Day at the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Review of the Classic Film Guide
Individual evidence
- ↑ Pem : Sharply seen - but correct. Three one-offs - Negri, Robson, Mardayn. In: Der Morgen - Wiener Montagblatt , December 23, 1935, p. 11.
- ↑ Lady for a day. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 1, 2017 .
- ↑ http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117792407.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024240/business
- ↑ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0024240/trivia
- ↑ Lady for a Day (1933) - Notes. In: Turner Classic Movies. Accessed September 10, 2018 .
- ↑ Lady for a Day (1933) - Articles. In: Turner Classic Movies. Accessed September 10, 2018 .