Jeanskynebu the audience applauded

Actuakers One of my all time favorites.

SanEat A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

gavin6942 A nurse enlists the help of a petty criminal to foil a sinister plot to murder two children.The film was considered risqué at the time of its release, particularly the scene where Barbara Stanwyck is seen in her lingerie. Clark Gable portrays a vicious chauffeur gradually starving two little girls to death. According to Robert Osborne, the part of "Nick the Chauffeur" was originally intended for James Cagney, but his success in "The Public Enemy" prevented his accepting a supporting role, paving the way for Gable. Strong supporting roles like this allowed Gable to become a leading man...I feel like Barbara Stanwyck needs more love. She had a 60-year career, was a leading lady, and even had own television program for a while. And yet, she doesn't seem to have ever become an icon, someone who carries on in pop culture. I love her in everything she does, but I doubt that 1 out of 10 people know her or would recognize her. And that is a shame.

GManfred A good but not great entry into the Stanwyck canon. In this one she becomes a nurse and gets into some predictable and some unpredictable situations - odd how customs of an earlier generation can seem quaint and out-of-date to succeeding ones. Often its seems they had short-cuts to solutions of dilemmas - medical and legal, for instance - that take us a great deal of time nowadays. Suffice it to say that she is the main reason to see this peculiar '30's artifact, and she delivers another startlingly plucky performance - as always,she is not as fragile as she seems.Check out Clark Gable in a one-dimensional performance as a brutal chauffeur, before he hit stardom. Ben Lyon does a very agreeable turn as her bootlegger boyfriend. And, not to mention the dependable Joan Blondell as her best pal.Don't get me wrong, it's interesting enough. It's just that the subject matter is way off the beaten track. Makes you wonder,did this type of situation ever arise in the '30's, or any other decade?

sdave7596 "Night Nurse" released in 1931, in the depths of the Great Depression, was the kind of film Warner Brothers cranked out at that time. Barbara Stanwyck plays Lora Hart, a woman down on her luck who applies to become a nurse. She does so, with success. The initial part of the film takes us into the inner workings of a hospital -- circa 1931. Stanwyck is befriended by a fellow nurse, played by Joan Blondell, who provides much comic relief throughout the film. Stanwyck's first assignment is to take care of two sick children of a wealthy mother. Soon she begins to realize there is a sinister plot to starve the children so various people can profit from the children's trust fund. The children's mother is a serious alcoholic and seems to completely ignore her children, leaving them in the care of nurses and a housekeeper. A young Clark Gable has an eerie and threatening presence playing a chauffeur, who apparently is in league with the alcoholic mother and the children's sleazy doctor. Brought into the mix of all these characters is a charming bootlegger (prohibition was still the law of the land) played by Ben Lyon. He falls for Stanwyck after she patches him up from a bullet wound and doesn't report it as required. The film is clearly "pre-code" meaning the code was down in ink but largely ignored by studios until enforcement in 1934. There are some scenes of Blondell and Stanwyck dressing and undressing, and we see them in their undergarments several times! Liquor flows freely, despite prohibition and there are several scenes of various drunken party-goers. One drunken man tries to assault Stanwyck. There is some fairly graphic violence by 1931 movie standards. There is also some funny, snappy dialogue from Stanwyck and Blondell. My favorite line is when Stanwyck, after wrestling with the drunken, neglectful mother, looks down at her passed out on the floor and says "You mother..." I won't give away the ending, as it is a bit bizarre, but this is an entertaining film. See it just for Stanwyck. She gives a spirited and tough performance.

moonspinner55 Early talkie fires off at all comers, with enough sassy language (probably very modern for 1931) and exposed shoulders and gams to please both female and male audiences. Barbara Stanwyck chances into job as trainee nurse at a city hospital, soon becoming an R.N. and loaned out for private medical duty. Taking care of a sick child, Stanwyck butts heads with the little girl's drunken mother, the mother's brute of a chauffeur, and the shady doctor on the case, all of whom seem not to care about the child's waning condition. Ballsy, cynical, Prohibition-era drama with intentionally funny asides and sharply-pointed vignettes. Director William Wellman doesn't attempt to reach great heights here; he keeps the tone of the piece grounded (it's very earthy) and uses Stanwyck's no-nonsense appeal to bolster the rest. Fourth-billed Clark Gable takes a pop at Barbara, but she's one "sister" who won't go quietly! For her fans, this is a must-see. **1/2 from ****