“Night Nurse” (1931)

Night Nurse, which is not nearly so tawdry as it sounds, was part of TCM’s feature, “Forbidden Hollywood,” about films that skirted the decency code of the time.

Barbara Stanwyck is a woman hoping to become a nurse. She inveigles her way into the nursing program and rooms with a saucy Joan Blondell. In the hospital, she must dodge leering interns and a stern head nurse. After graduation, she is assigned to the night shift for two children in their home. The children’s health is failing, and the nurse suspects foul play. There is a wild collection of characters: a gangster who wants to date her, a strict housekeeper, a drunk mother and her soused boyfriend, a doctor with suspicious motives, and, best of all, a very young Clark Gable as the shady chauffeur.

It’s a quick, entertaining film, especially for the glimpse into the early performances of Stanwyck and Gable. What I found most interesting, though, is that the movie was rated G for general audience on TCM, in spite of its history as a transgressive pre-Code film. Its naughty reputation was based on scenes of Stanwyck and Blondell undressing together (though they revealed little) and sharing a bed. There was sexual innuendo, a brief scene of violence, and several instances of drunkenness. It makes for an ironic look at the contrast between what was banned then, and now.

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