IMDb user comments for
To Please a Lady (1950)

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12 comments in total

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8 out of 10 people found the following comment useful :-
Suitable as light entertainment for Gable fans or a serious study by classic motorsport fans, 30 October 2005

Author: editor-222 from New Zealand

Dreary day in Auckland New Zealand, October 2005 and TCM has "To Please a Lady " on twice in the one day. Between mowing the lawns, I watch it twice. Sludge overkill? If it had been about a football star I wouldn't have watched it. The story line is as thin as Gable's moustache. But the automotive background, 55 years old, is priceless. Some of the "action" scenes are stagey, but you can tell that Gable does some of the close up, high speed driving - you don't get wind buffet on cheeks and arms from driving at 30mph! To see an Offy' motor being stripped, to see inside what looked like a genuine 1950 racing shop and to see Mauri Rose in the legendary Novi was incredible. Not for everyone, but for classic motor racing enthusiasts this movie is a hidden treasure. You get the feeling that Gable must have been a motor racing fan.

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6 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Great vintage auto racing/stunt action, 21 October 2001
Author: B1rd from Norfolk, VA

I couldn't care less about the story line, though it's not too bad to sit through. But the authentic open-wheel midget and Indy-car racing footage is worth every minute of Clark and Barbara's banal banter. There's even a montage of a racing engine being machined and assembled, some nice race car closeups, and pit stop action. To top it all off, there is a couple of minutes of what looks to be authentic footage of Joie Chitwood's famous stunt car show. This is a real sleeper and highly recommended for vintage race fans.

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6 out of 8 people found the following comment useful :-
For hard core champ car and dirt track fans, 10 November 2004
Author: steve wilson (steve-wilson@webtv.net) from Allentown, PA

A fabulous film tour of dirt and asphalt oval tracks around the country. Forget the story! A treat to see the days when you could tour the country making a living in a race car,by yourself and a small crew of dedicated sponsors and friends. A must see for any race fan. All you lefty artists will only see it as

a sleeping pill. Pearls before swine. As a racer that ran at various tracks in the film,it cant be overstated how

nostalgic a trip it is to see men and race machinery the way it was in the old days; incredible doses of fun,danger and adventure. I read about these days and heard stories, but you can see in the filming that the crews and drivers

are a snapshot of true racing history in this country. Mark my words,in twenty years they are going to worship films like this one. Enjoy it now and show a friend the way it was....

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5 out of 7 people found the following comment useful :-
Car racing at its best, and good actors add much to the story, 1 July 2001

Author: lora64 from Canada

This is a terrific movie for fans of car racing. There's live footage of real car races that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

Clark Gable, is the tough ridden driver Mike, who seems to live under a cloud of doubt and blame which columnist Regina (Stanwyck) at first holds against him, deeming him the cause of another driver's death. But in time they work through their rough beginnings and then they find more understanding and acceptance. Both are strong-willed so it's an interesting match.

Adolphe Menjou also adds his abilities in a supportive role, always well done. I'm not a sports fan but did enjoy seeing these fine actors perform. I wasn't aware of this film until today when I saw it on tv, so it was a nice surprise. Very good entertainment.

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3 out of 5 people found the following comment useful :-
Vintage Fun!, 31 January 2002
Author: Lachlan Hazelton (LHMovieBuff@aol.com) from Sydney, Australia.

This film is a typical star vehicle for Gable. He strides through it with his usual confidence, the cocked eyebrow and sly grin making the odd worthwhile appearance. What makes it unique is that it's the only teaming of Gable and Stanwyk. That's a real shame. Their chemistry and spark makes every scene they have together worthwhile, screen images and their characters clash wonderfully. A fantastic screen pairing. Barbara shines,proving again to be at home in any genre, matching it with any leading man. Gable, for his part sparkles too,deftly shading the darker elements of Mike Brannan with experienced ease. The perfect answer to a night at home or a rainy day.

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Forget the defects and go for the stars!, 9 May 2008

Author: hondo551 from United States

I've gotta be honest. I never cared for racing films till I saw Cornel Wilde's "Devil's Hairpin" at a Saturday matinée a long time ago. It seemed like the start of 'modern' racing to me, where cars looked like cars and not bathtubs on wheels, and guys like Newman and Garner and McQueen were behind the wheel. Stuff made before that seemed too old and dated and creaky. So it was with some trepidation that I stayed up to watch this Gable/Stanwyck vehicle race around my TV screen for the first time. God knows it had to be creaky. They were making it while I was being conceived, and showing it in theaters while I was learning about baby formula! Yeah, there's a similar theme of drivers killing drivers like in "Devil's Hairpin", but there's Stanwyck going from being too hard-nose to sappy in love just a little too fast, Gable knocks her over way too quickly with no reason shown why he's even attracted to her, and the stars of the film look like they should have made this movie ten years earlier. But then, these stars were at the top of their game. When Stanwyck's assistant swoons over Clark Gable, she should. He's still the king! There were still plenty of women in the audience who would. And let's face it, Gable just had to dig Stanwyck because she was the best tough cookie with a soft center to come out of Hollywood ever. Gable slapping her, and some lines of dialogue stand out, especially Stanwyck saying, "You're nobody till somebody loves you," which had to predate Dean Martin's first recording of that by five years! There are lots of scenes of auto racing history for fans who appreciate that sort of thing to enjoy, but there's also the stars themselves to enjoy. Unlike today, there was a time when faces and personalities meant more to a film than the story itself, and it's watching these two stars go through the motions that really make this film worth watching even after all these years have passed.

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1 out of 3 people found the following comment useful :-
It's a chick flic and guy's film, 9 February 2008

Author: Thia from United States

I love this movie. It's one of my all time top ten favorites. The actual story line about racing is fairly accurate, with a little of Hollywood thrown in. It's a love story and a racing movie all rolled up into one. What more can you ask for. Clark Gable's subtle sex appeal just comes steaming off the screen and the chemistry between him and Barbara Stanwyck is the way you dream that love can happen. They are 2 different personalities, they have nothing in common, but you can feel the underlying animal magnetism that draws them together. If you are a real racing fan, you'll love seeing the the old midget racing footage, much of it is real footage, so for a real fan it's great. And so is the Indy 500 footage! It depicts the way racing really was back in the day. They raced midget's 7 nights a week and if you were good enough and got the right breaks, you headed for the Indy 500. Love and racing, it doesn't get any better!

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1 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Embarrassing, 29 October 2005

Author: billaknz-1 from New Zealand

Hello, I really like Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck, but this movie must have been accepted by them as a pay cheque while they waited for something better. Both had very superior films before and after in their careers. It's about the only movie of either one I have ever turned off. The change from hard nose reporter, to love struck person in one scene (with no previous character development), was the just too much and the turning point in the movie. If a slap and one kiss could have that much affect on a human, then there's no hope for any intelligent mind on this earth. However, I have to be honest, the approach can be realistic and emotionally true depending on your value system. The causation of love is difficult to determine. Overall, maybe the plots, scripts, acting and perceptions were better at an earlier time. I think so.

Bye, Bill

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1 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
Couldn't have they given Gable & Stanwyck something better?, 18 November 2004

Author: bkoganbing from Buffalo, New York

Gable and Stanwyck did one other film together at the beginning of talking pictures. It was called Night Nurse and Barbara was the lead and Gable an up and coming supporting player.

A generation later and they're both screen legends. I would have hoped that MGM would have given them something better. It's not that it's a bad film, the racing sequences are quite good and exciting. But To Please A Lady was definitely a B picture.

I have a theory that Gable wanted to do this for pleasure. After World War II, Gable and Stanwyck's husband Robert Taylor both took up racing; motorbikes, automobiles, you name it. MGM put a stop to it, not wanting to have two of its most expensive properties out risking their necks for fun. That's why we have stunt men. It took the decline of the studio system before a newer generation of stars like James Garner, Paul Newman and most of all Steve McQueen could pursue racing without studio interference.

Gable is the race car driver and Barbara Stanwyck is the Dorothy Thompson type columnist who at first dislikes him and then falls for him big time. Lots of similarities in their relationship to Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn in Woman of the Year. No comedic moments in this one though.

Both Gable and Stanwyck deserved something more memorable than To Please A Lady.

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1 out of 4 people found the following comment useful :-
A great line was heard in this movie that should be part of our culture, if my memory serves me right., 26 April 2001
Author: stevemaz from Exeter, New Hampshire 03833

I was 9 or 10 years old I saw To Please a Lady at the Ioka Theater in Exeter, NH, and a big fan of Barbara Stanwyck and Clark Gable. It is an exciting race car movie with of course a romantic angle between the two stars. The biggie was the line Gable uttered that even at the age of 9 or 10 made me wince a bit. I have not seen the film since and a half century later I can still remember it. It went: "Listen, baby, your just another dame to me. I can handle you," or "listen baby, I can handle you. You're just another dame to me." If you're a Stanwyck fan you can imagine her facial expression after the line was delivered. The film has been on TV.

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