To Please a Lady (1950)

A former war hero and midget car racer meets his match in a feisty reporter who blames his reckless tactics for an accidental racing death.

Director:

Clarence Brown

Writers:

Barré Lyndon (story), Marge Decker (story)

Stars:

Clark Gable, Barbara Stanwyck, Adolphe Menjou

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Clark Gable	...	Mike Brannan
Barbara Stanwyck	...	Regina Forbes
Adolphe Menjou	...	Gregg
Will Geer	...	Jack Mackay
Roland Winters	...	Dwight Barrington
William C. McGaw	...	Joie Chitwood
Lela Bliss	...	Regina's Secretary
Emory Parnell	...	Mr. Wendall
Frank Jenks	...	Press Agent
Helen Spring	...	Janie
Bill Hickman	...	Mike's Pit Crew
J. Lewis Smith	...	Mike's Pit Crew (as Lew Smith)
Ted Husing	...	Ted Husing

Storyline

Mike Brannon is a former war hero turned midget car racer. His ruthless racing tactics have made him successful but the fans consider him a villain and boo him mercilessly. Independent, beautiful reporter Regina Forbes tries to interview him but is put off by his gruff chauvinism, and when Brannon's daredevil tactics cause the death of a fellow driver, he finds himself a pariah in the sport thanks to her articles. When she finds him earning money as a barnstorming daredevil driver hoping for a comeback, they begin to become mutually attracted.

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Plot Keywords:

daredevil | driver | newspaper columnist | bad press | expose | 

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Taglines:

CLARK GABLE - BARBARA STANWYCK - HE'S MISTER SPEED! SHE'S MISS SPITFIRE! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Action | Romance | Sport

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

13 October 1950 (USA)

Also Known As:

Red Hot Wheels

Filming Locations:

Arlington Downs Racetrack - 2225 E. Randol Mill Road, Arlington, Texas, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Clark Gable was serious racing fan who frequently attended races including the Indianapolis 500.

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Goofs

During the "pit race", the closer shots were filmed with prominent "Mike Brannan" and "Brannan Spl." on the pit wall, but after a cut, the real #17 car is shown in actual race footage, which has no "Mike Brannan Spl." painted on the car just forward of the windshield, a tire obscures most of Joie Chitwood's name on the pit wall, and the pit wall is marked "Wolfe Spl.".

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Quotes

Regina Forbes: It's like the Fourth of July and the heavyweight fight and the World Series all rolled into one.

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Connections

Edited into Hollywood: The Dream Factory (1972)

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Soundtracks

Polly-Wolly Doodle
(uncredited)
Credited usually to Daniel Decatur Emmett (as Dan Emmett)
Whistled by several characters

User Reviews

Great racing scenes (Indy style) but they get in the way of plot development

To Please a Lady (1950)

Amazingly, this is from post-war America. It feels like a movie from the 1930s, both technically and the way the story is told. Even the stars, though both obviously alive and still working, are better known for their earlier work.

I'm speaking of Clark Gable and Barbara Stanwyck. And they have a certain degree of good chemistry on screen, though the story is so "constructed" (I'm avoiding the better word "contrived") you don't always feel what they are feeling, as characters. The one scene that does this best is an extended dinner at a club where a string orchestra is playing and they fall in love and then seem to fall out of love quickly. It's really beautiful and romantic (and the strings are as lush as any string section has sounded, and I mean it).

Because of all these things this ends up being both a great fun movie and a bit of a throwback that doesn't quite take off. The director, Clarence Brown, is also known best for much earlier movies (like the award winning pre-code "A Free Soul" which is fabulous). He's good, the acting is good, and the story is, well, pretty good. It's serviceable, but a little too packaged and somewhat thin going.

Another factor here is the racing itself, the Indianapolis 500. Some of the footage is clearly from real races (probably the 1949 or 1950 race...this movie was released in the fall of 1950). There are lots of scenes--too many, unless you are car racing fan--of cars zooming around the track. Credit goes to the cinematographer, Harold Rosson, who is a bit legendary because he helped with "Wizard of Oz" and did several other classics like "Asphalt Jungle" and "The Bad Seed." The photography matters more than usual here because it's "just" car racing, and it's made exciting and visually intense. Closeups of Gable in the car are of course constructed in the studio, but seemalessly. Great visuals throughout.

See this? You bet, but remember it's really an entertainment, and it has little complexity or depth, and it has lots and lots of race track stuff that doesn't propel the plot, just the immediate energy. It's no classic, but it has classic qualities and faces, for sure, and I liked it. And in the end, without giving a thing away, the woman (Stanwyck) stays strong and keeps her independence, a rare thing in 1950s movies.