utgard14 Tough young nurse Lora (Barbara Stanwyck) is assigned as personal nurse to two children. She comes to believe they are in danger from their alcoholic mother and her brutish chauffeur Nick (Clark Gable) . When she gets no help from her superiors, she turns to Mortie (Ben Lyon), a bootlegger she treated for a gunshot wound. Wonderful Pre-Coder from director William Wellman. Stanwyck is very good in an early role. Clark Gable makes a great heavy. Sassy Joan Blondell is lots of fun. Charles Winninger, Vera Lewis, and Ralf Harolde offer fine support. Ben Lyon, largely forgotten today, does remarkably well here with actors who would go on to become screen legends. Don't miss those scenes of Stanwyck & Blondell undressing. Scenes like that are what Pre-Code film lovers live for.

David_Brown This is a Pre-Code movie where bootlegging gangster Mortie (Ben Lyon), is actually more ethical than anyone in the entire movie, except of course, Lora Hart (Barbara Stanwyck). Spoilers ahead: You see that when Lora is trying to save two little girls from being poisoned to death, the only one who really helps her is Mortie, who knows what she is about by taking a bullet out of him, and not reporting the shooting to the police (at risk of her job). However, this movie is a must see to see Clark Gable (Nick the chauffeur), playing the most evil role of his career. There are others where he is a bad guy ("Manhattan Melodrama", "A Free Soul" & "The Painted Desert" come to mind (he was not too nice in "San Francisco" or "Sporting Blood" either), but NOWHERE was he outright sinister, like in this movie, and I liked the fact that he got knocked off. Gable is the main reason to see this movie, but Stanwyck is not far behind. There is one scene, where Nick punches out Lora, and later on, you see a bandage on her chin. It makes you think that yes, it was Barbara not a stunt double that took the punch from Gable, that is how tough Stamwyck was. The ending is quite interesting because of why Lora & Mortie ended up together: They knew the other was strong enough to do so.

atlasmb "Night Nurse" is representative of pre-code era films--only slightly risqué by today's standards. It is also representative of the times in the sense that Hollywood seemed to be enamored of the medical profession--both doctors and nurses--during the period, with many such scripts being produced. I think it is due to changing views about medical professionals, instigated by medicine being more science-centered. Audiences probably learned a lot about medical procedures and standards that were somewhat new. This makes such films interesting now from a historic standpoint; and they are interesting as comparisons to today's methods. What we most learn is that standards of care which are en vogue almost always look primitive (and ignorant) by standards only fifty years later.Joan Blondell and Barbara Stanwyck star in this film about the education, training and practicing of nurses. Stanwyck's character trains in a hospital after no medical education. The girls knock heads with the nurse in charge of their training (and their morals). They deal with the orderlies and physicians who, being male, have a sense of entitlement. Eventually, they get jobs in private care, tending to two young girls who seem neglected.Clark Gable portrays a belligerent chauffeur with suspect intentions, though his part is a minor one. He plays "sinister" very well, perhaps a clue to his later successes portraying men who are somewhat threatening (like John Garfield).At one point--as Stanwyck tries to unravel the mystery of the young girls' declining health--the film slows. Otherwise, I found it interesting on many levels. It is fun to see Blondell and Stanwyck as such young women. Even then, Stanwyck commanded the screen with her intensity, when necessary.

sdave7596 "Night Nurse" released in 1931, in the depths of the Great Depression, was the kind of film Warner Brothers cranked out at that time. Barbara Stanwyck plays Lora Hart, a woman down on her luck who applies to become a nurse. She does so, with success. The initial part of the film takes us into the inner workings of a hospital -- circa 1931. Stanwyck is befriended by a fellow nurse, played by Joan Blondell, who provides much comic relief throughout the film. Stanwyck's first assignment is to take care of two sick children of a wealthy mother. Soon she begins to realize there is a sinister plot to starve the children so various people can profit from the children's trust fund. The children's mother is a serious alcoholic and seems to completely ignore her children, leaving them in the care of nurses and a housekeeper. A young Clark Gable has an eerie and threatening presence playing a chauffeur, who apparently is in league with the alcoholic mother and the children's sleazy doctor. Brought into the mix of all these characters is a charming bootlegger (prohibition was still the law of the land) played by Ben Lyon. He falls for Stanwyck after she patches him up from a bullet wound and doesn't report it as required. The film is clearly "pre-code" meaning the code was down in ink but largely ignored by studios until enforcement in 1934. There are some scenes of Blondell and Stanwyck dressing and undressing, and we see them in their undergarments several times! Liquor flows freely, despite prohibition and there are several scenes of various drunken party-goers. One drunken man tries to assault Stanwyck. There is some fairly graphic violence by 1931 movie standards. There is also some funny, snappy dialogue from Stanwyck and Blondell. My favorite line is when Stanwyck, after wrestling with the drunken, neglectful mother, looks down at her passed out on the floor and says "You mother..." I won't give away the ending, as it is a bit bizarre, but this is an entertaining film. See it just for Stanwyck. She gives a spirited and tough performance.