4. Night Nurse
1931
Also directed by Wellman, Night Nurse is yet another sordid tale involving murder and a working girl. However, this time around, the female lead (played by Barbara Stanwyck) is more angel than devil, as she tries to rescue two wealthy children from their alcoholic mother Mrs. Ritchey (played by Charlotte Merriam) and a plot to starve them to death in order to seize their trust fund money. One of the killers, Nick the chauffeur, is played by none other than Clark Gable, who was just a few years away from becoming an international heartthrob.
In an attempt to show the raw realities of working-class life, Night Nurseoccasionally dips into outright voyeurism, most notably in a scene where nurses Stanwyck and Joan Blondell undress in front of each other while casually discussing the best ways to turn a profit as a private nurse. Blondell’s character in particular epitomizes the swaggering female of the Pre-Code era with her penchant for chewing bubble gum (something that was frowned upon by polite society) and making the type of wisecracks that were usually reserved for tough-talking male characters.
Unlike the assertive yet kindhearted nurses, Merriam’s Mrs. Ritchey is a depiction of alcohol-infused amorality, for the drunken socialite prefers to continue a nonstop party rather than care for her own sick children. Compounding the irresponsibility of Mrs. Ritchey is the wickedness of Nick and Dr. Milton Ranger (played by Ralf Harolde), two characters who seem ripped from the true crime tabloids that were incredibly popular during the Great Depression.
The attempted murder of Mrs. Ritchey’s children, along with the film’s entirely cynical portrayal of the medical profession, helped Night Nurse to earn comparisons with another controversial Wellman film—1931’s The Public Enemy. According to reviewers, both films contained an “air of repellent fascination” and an engagement with characters who lived outside of the law and outside the boundaries of traditional morality.
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