A city girl on a bus tour of the West encounters a handsome rodeo cowboy who helps her forget her simpy city suitors.
The star of Straight Outta Compton and Just Mercy draws on his film school past to crown the greatest in art and entertainment.
Related News
-
Last Year's Honorary Academy Award Recipient O'Hara Gets TCM Tribute
29 October 2015 | Alt Film Guide
You can add Little Women to the list! Take a look at even more movies and TV shows that were so nice they made 'em twice (at least).
User Lists
Related lists from IMDb users
Share this Rating
Title: A Lady Takes a Chance (1943)
Want to share IMDb's rating on your own site? Use the HTML below.
Learn more
More Like This
The More the Merrier
(1943)
Certificate: Passed
Comedy
|
Romance
|
War
Director:
George Stevens
Stars:
Jean Arthur,
Joel McCrea,
Charles Coburn
Dakota
(1945)
Certificate: Passed
Western
Director:
Joseph Kane
Stars:
John Wayne,
Vera Ralston,
Walter Brennan
The Spoilers
(1942)
Drama
|
Western
Director:
Ray Enright
Stars:
Marlene Dietrich,
Randolph Scott,
John Wayne
Without Reservations
(1946)
Comedy
|
Romance
Director:
Mervyn LeRoy
Stars:
Claudette Colbert,
John Wayne,
Don DeFore
The Impatient Years
(1944)
Comedy
|
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Irving Cummings
Stars:
Jean Arthur,
Lee Bowman,
Charles Coburn
Tycoon
(1947)
Adventure
|
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
Richard Wallace
Stars:
John Wayne,
Laraine Day,
Cedric Hardwicke
Angel and the Badman
(1947)
Certificate: Passed
Romance
|
Western
Director:
James Edward Grant
Stars:
John Wayne,
Gail Russell,
Harry Carey
Too Many Husbands
(1940)
Comedy
|
Romance
Director:
Wesley Ruggles
Stars:
Jean Arthur,
Fred MacMurray,
Melvyn Douglas
In Old Oklahoma
(1943)
Certificate: Passed
Romance
|
Western
Director:
Albert S. Rogell
Stars:
John Wayne,
Martha Scott,
Albert Dekker
In Old California
(1942)
Certificate: Passed
Action
|
Romance
|
Western
Director:
William C. McGann
Stars:
John Wayne,
Binnie Barnes,
Albert Dekker
The Talk of the Town
(1942)
Comedy
|
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
George Stevens
Stars:
Cary Grant,
Jean Arthur,
Ronald Colman
Flying Tigers
(1942)
Action
|
Drama
|
Romance
Director:
David Miller
Stars:
John Wayne,
John Carroll,
Anna Lee
Edit
Cast
| Cast overview, first billed only: | |||
| Jean Arthur | ... | Molly J. Truesdale | |
| John Wayne | ... | Duke Hudkins | |
| Charles Winninger | ... | Waco | |
| Phil Silvers | ... | Smiley Lambert | |
| Mary Field | ... | Florrie Bendix | |
| Don Costello | ... | Drunk | |
 |
John Philliber | ... | Storekeeper |
| Grady Sutton | ... | Malcolm Scott | |
|
|
Jean Stevens | ... | 'Jitterbug' (as Peggy Carroll) |
| Grant Withers | ... | Bob Hastings | |
| Hans Conried | ... | Gregg Stone | |
| Ariel Heath | ... | Flossie | |
|
|
Sugar Geise | ... | Linda Belle |
|
|
Joan Blair | ... | Lilly |
| Tom Fadden | ... | Mullen | |
Edit
Plot Summary
|
Add Synopsis
Storyline
A New York bank clerk,Mollie Truesdale (Jean Arthur), in the late 1930s, finds that her cherished dream of making a 17-day all-expenses-paid bus trip to the Pacific Coast and back, isn't all she thought it would be...until she reaches Oregon and a bucking broncho tosses a rodeo performer on top of her and knocks her flat. Duke Hudkins (John Wayne), by way of apology, shows her the sights of Fairfield, Oregon, and she misses her bus, quarrels with the bewildered Duke, hitchhikes across a lot of desert...and a romance is born. Written by Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
Taglines:
A ROUGH RIDIN' RODEO RIDER who takes the prize on and off the field! (1954 reissue poster) See more »Parents Guide:
View content advisory »
Edit
See full technical specs »
Details
Country:
USALanguage:
EnglishRelease Date:
19 August 1943 (USA) See more »Also Known As:
The Cowboy and the Girl See more »Filming Locations:
RKO Studios - 780 N. Gower Street, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USACompany Credits
Show more on
IMDbPro »
Technical Specs
Runtime:
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)Color:
Black and WhiteAspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1
Edit
See more »
Written by Bob Bell
Performed by The Three Peppers
See more »
Did You Know?
Trivia
Although his character in A Lady Takes a Chance is named Duke Hudkins, actor John Wayne got his nickname "The Duke" long before. In his early teens living in Glendale, California, Wayne had a dog named Duke. They were so inseparable that family and friends called them Little Duke and Big Duke. For Wayne, who soon entered high school theatrical productions, the name stuck. See more »Quotes
Waco: Love is the best thing there is, I guess, but you're barking up the wrong cowboy.See more »
Soundtracks
Swingin' at the Cotton ClubWritten by Bob Bell
Performed by The Three Peppers
See more »
Frequently Asked Questions
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.On IMDb TV, you can catch Hollywood hits and popular TV series at no cost. Select any poster below to play the movie, totally free!
Another reviewer noted that the setting for this 1943 movie was 1938, a few years before the U.S. got into World War II. Life went on in time of war in the U.S., and Hollywood made many comedies to help relieve the home front stress and worry about the war. But the country also had rationing, reduced use of gas, and other product restrictions. So, it's not too likely that there were many bus tours around the country, as in this film. And, if there were some, the movie industry wouldn't want to be put on the spot encouraging Americans to splurge in a time of shortage. So, the time of the film taking place was just set back a few years.
"A Lady Takes a Chance" is a fun comedy romance that paired a couple of unlikely stars. Jean Arthur was one of the top female movie comics of the time, and John Wayne was known then for his long string of mostly Westerns. Wayne had ventured into comedy once before, in "His Private Secretary" (1933), and I think he did quite well. This movie showed that he could do comedy well – especially as a straight man against a comic partner.
The Arthur-Wayne pairing works very well in this movie. The Western and war film fans of John Wayne should enjoy this comedy-romance as well.