Night Nurse (1931)(dvd)

Synopsis: A fast-moving melodrama from tough Public Enemy director William A Wellman, a hard-nosed tale with a great cast headed by Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Blondell, who were accused by contemporary critics of boosting the film's audiences by spending an inordinate amount of screen time dressing and undressing.

Ben Lyon is the co-star, but the screen is well and truly stolen by a young actor in the supporting role of sadistic chauffeur: a clean-shaven Clark Gable on the road to stardom. This kind of tough, sexy drama vanished with the coming of the restrictive Hays Code, and it's always interesting to see what Hollywood could get away with before it was introduced.

Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon
Runtime: 72 min