"Lady by Choice" stars two fabulous females from the early-30's--May Robson and Carole Lombard--however they couldn't quite save this one. The movie was on one story arc then jumped the tracks to another arc which ended with the woman-forgoing-wealth-to-prove-she-loves-the-man cliche.
It began as a feel good story. An old drunkard named Patricia Patterson (May Robson) was sent to an old folks home to keep her and society safe from her drunkenness. She would enter the life of Alabam Lee (Carole Lombard) when Alabam adopted Patty as a publicity stunt. Everyone has heard of adults adopting children, but who ever heard of adults adopting parents? It was shaping up to be a heartwarming story of two women being there for each other and providing the other with what she didn't have--a mother for Alabam and a daughter for Patty.
Then they introduced a romance.
A romance, regardless of how tender, sweet, and loveable, was going to ruin the movie. What I thought was going to be more like "Whom the Gods Destroy" in which a man helps his son without telling him he's his father, wound up being more like a common romance of that era. I wasn't expecting it to be about Patty being Alabam's real mom, I was just hoping that the two could be instrumental in each other's lives without it detouring to a romance. In other words; "Whom the Gods Destroy" was about a man helping his son achieve his dreams without the introduction of a love interest, while "Lady by Choice" was about a woman initially helping her assumed daughter try to achieve a dream, but then morphed into the woman (Patty) helping her assumed daughter get the man she loved as though that were a more appropriate dream.
Alabam had gone broke and needed money. She tried to do it Patty's way by working hard at becoming a legitimate entertainer and not an erotic dancer, but she couldn't make it. She dared not go back to her crooked manager, Kendall (Arthur Hohl), and she wasn't going to act or shake a tail feather for the money. She was going to find a wealthy man to dig gold from. For that she eyed Johnny Mills (Roger Pryor), a nice lawyer who treated Patty like she was his own mother.
Alabam had Johnny wrapped around her little finger. Eventually, as was expected, she had a change of heart. She legitimately fell in love with Johnny and wanted to marry him, however there were forces that wanted to keep them apart. Johnny's mother and Patty wanted to keep the gold digging Alabam away from Johnny. What they didn't know was that Alabam was truly in love with Johnny, but the ball to separate them had already been put in motion. The two women had gotten Judge Daly (Walter Connolly) involved. He had a suspended sentence on Alabam in his back pocket that he could wield over her to get her to leave Johnny alone.
The trite thing I didn't like about this romance was something they did a lot back then. For a woman to show she's truly good and that she's truly in love she has to forgo any wealth. That means she has to opt to marry the man even if he is or is going to be broke (e.g. Cut off from his inheritance or allowance, lost his job, stock market crash, etc.) or she has to return any gifts she may have received from another man. Both actions prove she's in love and worthy of marriage and happiness. It's a tired play that 1930's Hollywood kept rerunning.
Essentially the woman has to torture herself to prove her worth. It doesn't matter how myopic, narrow minded, naive, pollyanna, or misguided the man may be, everything falls on the woman. She has to prove her worth. The guy could've been pursuing her like a bloodhound, but somehow it will always turn around to her having to prove that she's worthy of his love.
One of the most common methods is for her to prove that she doesn't want his wealth (or even her own wealth in some cases) because that seems to have been the biggest knock on women of that era. I've seen it in "The Easiest Way," "The Girl from Missouri," "Gambling Lady," "Shopworn," "You Can't Buy Everything," and so many other movies. They all involved women twisting themselves into knots to prove they weren't gold diggers. In all cases the light would be seen and the two would be brought harmoniously together. If you've seen it once you've seen it a thousand times. It sucked to see "Lady By Choice" turn into the same kind of movie.
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It began as a feel good story. An old drunkard named Patricia Patterson (May Robson) was sent to an old folks home to keep her and society safe from her drunkenness. She would enter the life of Alabam Lee (Carole Lombard) when Alabam adopted Patty as a publicity stunt. Everyone has heard of adults adopting children, but who ever heard of adults adopting parents? It was shaping up to be a heartwarming story of two women being there for each other and providing the other with what she didn't have--a mother for Alabam and a daughter for Patty.
Then they introduced a romance.
A romance, regardless of how tender, sweet, and loveable, was going to ruin the movie. What I thought was going to be more like "Whom the Gods Destroy" in which a man helps his son without telling him he's his father, wound up being more like a common romance of that era. I wasn't expecting it to be about Patty being Alabam's real mom, I was just hoping that the two could be instrumental in each other's lives without it detouring to a romance. In other words; "Whom the Gods Destroy" was about a man helping his son achieve his dreams without the introduction of a love interest, while "Lady by Choice" was about a woman initially helping her assumed daughter try to achieve a dream, but then morphed into the woman (Patty) helping her assumed daughter get the man she loved as though that were a more appropriate dream.
Alabam had gone broke and needed money. She tried to do it Patty's way by working hard at becoming a legitimate entertainer and not an erotic dancer, but she couldn't make it. She dared not go back to her crooked manager, Kendall (Arthur Hohl), and she wasn't going to act or shake a tail feather for the money. She was going to find a wealthy man to dig gold from. For that she eyed Johnny Mills (Roger Pryor), a nice lawyer who treated Patty like she was his own mother.
Alabam had Johnny wrapped around her little finger. Eventually, as was expected, she had a change of heart. She legitimately fell in love with Johnny and wanted to marry him, however there were forces that wanted to keep them apart. Johnny's mother and Patty wanted to keep the gold digging Alabam away from Johnny. What they didn't know was that Alabam was truly in love with Johnny, but the ball to separate them had already been put in motion. The two women had gotten Judge Daly (Walter Connolly) involved. He had a suspended sentence on Alabam in his back pocket that he could wield over her to get her to leave Johnny alone.
The trite thing I didn't like about this romance was something they did a lot back then. For a woman to show she's truly good and that she's truly in love she has to forgo any wealth. That means she has to opt to marry the man even if he is or is going to be broke (e.g. Cut off from his inheritance or allowance, lost his job, stock market crash, etc.) or she has to return any gifts she may have received from another man. Both actions prove she's in love and worthy of marriage and happiness. It's a tired play that 1930's Hollywood kept rerunning.
Essentially the woman has to torture herself to prove her worth. It doesn't matter how myopic, narrow minded, naive, pollyanna, or misguided the man may be, everything falls on the woman. She has to prove her worth. The guy could've been pursuing her like a bloodhound, but somehow it will always turn around to her having to prove that she's worthy of his love.
One of the most common methods is for her to prove that she doesn't want his wealth (or even her own wealth in some cases) because that seems to have been the biggest knock on women of that era. I've seen it in "The Easiest Way," "The Girl from Missouri," "Gambling Lady," "Shopworn," "You Can't Buy Everything," and so many other movies. They all involved women twisting themselves into knots to prove they weren't gold diggers. In all cases the light would be seen and the two would be brought harmoniously together. If you've seen it once you've seen it a thousand times. It sucked to see "Lady By Choice" turn into the same kind of movie.
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