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Lady By Choice
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by Sony Pictures
Sales Rank: 24153
Price: $19.98
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May Robson gives a robust performance as the elderly drunk who is selected for 'motherhood' by fan dancer Carole Lombard. Lombard struggles with her role which is paper thin. One has to conclude that the script and planning for this film were 'pre-code' but the production was after. There are several holes in the plot which muddy the character motivation and leave the film short of where it could have been.<p>Lombard is pursuaded to 'adopt' a mother for publicity. This is in part to sooth over her arrest for a scandalous dance perfomance using only fans. The audience has to wait for most of the film to see this dance only to find an extremely watered down version of the Sally Rand original (see 1934's pre-code film 'Bolero' with Lombard, George Rath, and Sally Rand). A lover from Robson's past has assigned his son to watch over her. The son meets and romances Lombard with predictable results while checking on 'mom'. <p>This film suffers from censorship and too little effort to repair it after the code had been imposed. Recommended for Lombard fans only.
Viewer Reviews
Contrary to previous reviewers, I found this classic 1934 Carole Lombard romance both entertaining and charming. Sure, the plot is dated and predictable, but that's part of the charm with a movie like this. After all, even "fan-dancing" seems pretty innocent compared with the sleaze Hollywood puts in current movies. While not one of Lombard's strongest or most memorable performances, her stunning beauty is as enchanting as ever.
Lombard plays Georgia Alabam Lee, a sultry showgirl who gets arrested for performing a racy "fan-dance". While awaiting to see Judge Daly (played by Walter Connolly), she sees Patsy (played by May Robson), a drunken elderly woman with a bad habit of causing public disturbances. At the suggestion of her press agent, Alabam "adopts" Patsy to be her mother to improve her public image. But what started out as a joke turns into a close relationship between Alabam and her new mother. Patsy even decides to give up drinking and become Alabam's new manager.
Together they must deal with Alabam's crooked, former manager (who's promptly fired), rejection from talent scouts, and a new romance for Alabam that Patsy doesn't approve of. Alabam's boyfriend is Johnny Mills (played by Roger Pryor), the son of Patsy's former boyfriend, but Patsy questions Alabam's motives for pursuing Johnny, and she tries her hardest to break up the two lovebirds. Only too late does she realize that Alabam and Johnny truly love one another, and she hurriedly tries to re-establish their marriage plans.
Totally predictable, I know, yet one of the most enjoyable 1930's romantic comedies I've ever seen. May Robson gives an extraordinary performance and practically steals every scene. The vhs has a very good picture and sound quality, considering the age, but I hope that this and all of Carole Lombard's great films will be released on dvd someday.
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Lady By Choice
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