Lady by Choice (1934)

Fan dancer Alabam Lee is convicted of breaching the morals code with her racy shows. Her agent has her adopt a "mother" from an old ladies home as a publicity ploy to improve her image. ... See full summary »

Director:

David Burton

Writers:

Jo Swerling (screen play), Dwight Taylor (story)

Stars:

Carole Lombard, May Robson, Roger Pryor

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Carole Lombard	...	Alabam Lee
May Robson	...	Patricia Patterson
Roger Pryor	...	Johnny Mills
Walter Connolly	...	Judge Daly
Arthur Hohl	...	Kendall
Raymond Walburn	...	Front O'Malley
James Burke	...	Brannigan
Henry Kolker	...	Opper
Mariska Aldrich	...	Lucretia
Johnny Boyle	...	Walsh (as John Boyle)

Storyline

Fan dancer Alabam Lee is convicted of breaching the morals code with her racy shows. Her agent has her adopt a "mother" from an old ladies home as a publicity ploy to improve her image. Alabam chooses Patricia"Patsy" Patterson, a drunk and disorderly street lady with a past. Patsy has a protector in Johnny Mills, the lawyer son of her old flame. When Johnny comes to visit Patsy he meets Alabam and the two eventually fall in love. Both Patsy and the everpresent Judge Daly think that Alabam is golddigging for Johnny's money and their attempts to break things up puts the relationship on shaky ground.

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Plot Keywords:

judge | fan dancer | lawyer | horse riding | swindler | 

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Taglines:

Men who loved her grew sadder - but WISER !

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 October 1934 (USA)

Also Known As:

Hello Big Boy

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

76 min 85 min (original release)

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

While many cast members in studio records/casting call lists did not appear or were not identifiable in the 76-minute print available today, they were left in the cast list because of the missing 9 minutes.

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Quotes

Patricia 'Patsy' Patterson: Old people are respectable in spite of themselves.

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Connections

Follows Lady for a Day (1933)

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Soundtracks

"M-O-T-H-E-R, a Word That Means the World to Me"
(1915) (uncredited)
Music by Theodore Morse
Lyrics by Howard Johnson
Sung by Abe Dinovitch in the bar, with piano accompaniment
Partially sung a cappella by May Robson at her trial
Played on piano and partially sung by Carole Lombard

User Reviews

Nice Capraesque story.

This movie was a sequel of sorts to Capra's "Lady for a Day" and in it May Robson reprises her Apple Annie character. Indeed May Robson steals the show and gives by far the best performance. This film would be Carole Lombard's last with Columbia pictures. As with her film, "Brief Moment" her director at Columbia was David Burton and the character actor Arthur Hohl is on board again as costar, here playing her crooked manager.

Carole Lombard's performance is fair. She is trying hard and keeps herself animated, but seems to come up just short. She seems to suffer from a bad case of "over-acting". However, since she is playing a "bad" actress from the wrong side of town, I can't say this is too troubling. The story is complex and on the whole the acting is fine, so overall the viewing experience is pleasing and worth repeating. The ending does tug at your heart-strings and the resolution is well thought out. The characters examine their own faults and are able to take advantage of opportunities to grow...with a little help along the way.