Though this Frank Capra film came out a year before the beloved director would establish himself as perhaps the most famous director of the 1930s with "It Happened One Night," "Lady for a Day" bears all the hallmarks of what would become that unmistakable Capra style.
May Robson gives a sweet and at times heartbreaking performance as Apple Annie, a sidewalk peddler who writes to her daughter, living abroad, of her luxurious lifestyle among New York's upper crust. When the daughter announces that she'll be visiting with her fiancé and father-in-law, who wants to meet his son's intended in-laws before giving his approval to his marriage, Annie is in a panic, and even considers having someone tell her daughter that she is dead. But a gangster acquaintance and his minions come to her aid, making her over and posing as her staff and high society friends.
This is a fairy tale as only Frank Capra could tell it. On the surface is a heart-warming story about people who are willing to help others, but at the same time, the very real chasms that separate class from class are never far away. And like "It Happened One Night," though the film isn't directly about the Great Depression, the spectre of it hovers over all.
The film also stars Guy Kibbee as a pool hustler who stands in as Annie's husband.
Grade: B+
May Robson gives a sweet and at times heartbreaking performance as Apple Annie, a sidewalk peddler who writes to her daughter, living abroad, of her luxurious lifestyle among New York's upper crust. When the daughter announces that she'll be visiting with her fiancé and father-in-law, who wants to meet his son's intended in-laws before giving his approval to his marriage, Annie is in a panic, and even considers having someone tell her daughter that she is dead. But a gangster acquaintance and his minions come to her aid, making her over and posing as her staff and high society friends.
This is a fairy tale as only Frank Capra could tell it. On the surface is a heart-warming story about people who are willing to help others, but at the same time, the very real chasms that separate class from class are never far away. And like "It Happened One Night," though the film isn't directly about the Great Depression, the spectre of it hovers over all.
The film also stars Guy Kibbee as a pool hustler who stands in as Annie's husband.
Grade: B+