Night Nurse is not only a great pre-code film, it is a very pre-code film. Barbara Stanwyck as Lora Hart and Joan Blondell as Maloney tackle two perspectives of how to handle the cynical world created here. Lora is willing to lose it all for the sake of doing the right thing, while Maloney doesn’t seem to care about anything that doesn’t concern her. Both periodically seem demoralized by how things are, wishing it could be better. Maloney even criticizes the societal view that a woman should be subservient to her husband and not work. A favorite line of hers is, “Maybe 56 bucks a week isn’t much, but it’s 56 bucks!”
Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Blondell both show a lot of skin and snuggle together in bed, which does provide a slight erotic undertone. Some shots seem to serve little more purpose than to get us some eye candy. It’s hard not to applaud the scene where both, mostly undressed, get in bed and snuggle together! Maybe even more adorable is when to stop Lora from fainting, Maloney holds her wrist? Ben Lyon as Mortie is a very charming bootlegger who sticks around with crime while being impossible to not love, especially how warm he is to the other characters.
There is a disturbing undercurrent throughout the whole picture, with life initially seeming fine before thing after thing happens to suggest that there’s something wrong. The pacing is great, as the protagonists are fighting the clock. Clark Gable is one of the most intimidating antagonists of these old movies, dressed in black and saying very little. He creates a strong presence and you know things are getting intense just because he’s around.
SPOILERS
Why would Lora go out late with Maloney, considering she knew that was against the rules and this whole time was trying to make a good impression? It’s so creepy watching the kids describe the killing of their sister. The kids supply really good performances. The closeup and zoom on Clark Gable as he reveals he’s Nick, followed by the same shot for Lora as she gasps is a striking bit of imagery that symbolizes this new information we’ve learned. Maloney comes off as pretty unlikable in that she doesn’t seem to care about what’s going on with the children. She’s getting paid and going on dates, which to her is all that matters. While this probably is not intentional, this could be seen as a commentary on how real people are, not caring unless a problem bothers them specifically.
We get some nice intense performances of the children’s mother screaming and the look of disgust on Lora’s face. She’s been reasonably composed, but now she’s dropping it all to criticize this woman. This all makes sense as she’s clearly so fed up with putting up with people that don’t care about anyone else. It’s a lot of fun when Lora punches out a man. We later get a good comedy moment where she dumps water on the mother. It was pretty irresponsible of Lora to reveal she knows about the trust fund, as Nick would then know where she got that from and hurt the person she talked to.
The romance is expertly done lightly. It makes sense that the male romance, Mortie, would be attracted to Lora after she helped him. There were also many opportunities for her to show off her personality to him. Once everything is resolved, it’s cathartic to see them agree to go on a date, as that suggests they can move on to greener pastures. That being said, the ending is gloriously creepy, epitomizing the pre-code glory on display. Mortie doesn’t become a moral character, as he reveals that he had Nick killed. We’re left to figure this out over about thirty seconds. This coming so late in the game, as well as before and after the lovers’ talk of a date, positions this as something to be celebrated. That offbeat tone leaves a memorable impression, like this killing is just the way things go. Considering how many characters here are morally dubious, that matches it while getting more intense.
OVERVIEW
Night Nurse packs a mean punch in only about an hour. It’s got some heavy drama, light comedy, and a great evil world that is so endearing to watch, with a protagonist that just wants to do the right thing when it’s so hard. Of course, even on the surface there’s a lot of girls and violence.