Movie of the Week: To Please a Lady (1950)

This week’s movie is To Please a Lady (1950).

Clark Gable is Mike Brannon, a decorated war hero and a ruthless race car driver who will do anything to win. Stanwyck is feisty Regina “Reggie” Forbes, who writes a no-holds-barred weekly syndicated newspaper column. She sets her sights to rip apart Brannon after he runs another racer off the track into a fatal crash. She confronts him about the crash following a race and is put off by his blasé attitude. Furious by his indifference, she writes a scathing column about how heartless he is. After that, Brannon is suspended from auto racing and can’t find a job racing anywhere; her column has poisoned his name. The only employment he can find is being a daredevil driver for a local fair. Regina attends the fair, morbidly curious of what has become of the man she forced out of racing. He is none too pleased to see her, but there is a thin line between their love and hate—soon sparks ignite. While both are ruthless in their pursuits, their love falters as she can not get over the fact that he was responsible for the death of another man.

Guess I’m getting the Barbara Stanwyck pictures out of the way early, as this is their second and final film appearance together. I think they make a good screen pairing; they were always friends and it shines through.

Tough ladies in skirt suits were really Barbara’s bag in the 1950’s and nobody played them better. The script isn’t the best thing ever and although it’s quite progressive for 1950 that Barbara is a woman who is a big-deal newspaperwoman, it does become apparent throughout the film that perhaps Barbara has just been looking for the right man to knock her around a little so she can be a good little wife to him and mother to his children.

 

Clark says some real gems to her like: “You better listen to what I’m saying or I’ll knock that smile off your face!” (and he does)

“It’s time somebody roughed you up a little. I can handle you, baby, you’re just another dame to me.” Yikes.

 

I’d like to think that she keeps her job after she rides off into the sunset with Clark. Surely she does, right?

 

I actually like this film, chauvinistic undertones and all, more each time I see it. Enjoyable little romp for what it is. Clark looks like he’s having fun; he was always interested in cars and auto racing.

 

The finale was filmed at the Indianapolis Speedway and real footage was used from the 1950 Indianapolis 500. I’ve heard from a lot of people whose parents or grandparents were extras or lived around the Speedway at that time and met Clark or saw Clark.

 

“All the soft spots aren’t on the track.”

“Well you keep your mind on the ones that are.”

Nutshell review is here.

More photos here.