''Lady by Choice'' is a 1934 American romantic drama film released by

Columbia Pictures Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Trade name, doing business as Columbia Pictures, is an American film Production company, production and Film distributor, distribution company that is the flagship unit of the Sony Pictures Motion Picture Group ...

starring

Carole Lombard Carole Lombard (born Jane Alice Peters; October 6, 1908 – January 16, 1942) was an American actress, particularly noted for her energetic, often off-beat roles in screwball comedies. In 1999, the American Film Institute ranked Lombard ...

as a fan dancer and

May Robson Mary Jeanette Robison (19 April 1858 – 20 October 1942), known professionally as May Robson, was an Australian-born America-based actress whose career spanned 58 years, starting in 1883 when she was 25. A major stage actress of the late 19th ...

as a homeless drunk asked to pose as the dancer's mother for a publicity stunt, with unexpected consequences. Promoted as a follow-up to

Frank Capra Frank Russell Capra (born Francesco Rosario Capra; May 18, 1897 – September 3, 1991) was an Italian-American film director, producer, and screenwriter who was the creative force behind Frank Capra filmography#Films that won Academy Award ...

's 1933 hit ''

Lady for a Day ''Lady for a Day'' is a 1933 American pre-Code comedy-drama film directed by Frank Capra. The screenplay by Robert Riskin is based on the 1929 short story "Madame La Gimp" by Damon Runyon. It was the first film for which Capra received an Acad ...

'' (1933), it resembles the earlier film only in the casting of Robson.

Plot

Cantankerous old lady Patsy Patterson is hauled before Judge Daly on charges of drunk and disorderly conduct. Also in court is

fan dance In the West, a fan dance (i.e., a dance performed with fans) may be an erotic dance performance, traditionally by a woman, but not exclusively. Beyond eroticism it is a form of musical interpretation. The performer, sometimes entirely nude ...

r Alabam Lee, who is facing the judge on a morals charge. Alabam is given a suspended sentence of a year in prison while Patsy is condemned to an old ladies' home by the judge and lawyer Johnny Mill, who is committed to help her. To help improve her image, Alabam's publicist Front O'Malley and manager Charlie Kendall concoct a plan for her to "adopt" a mother. They visit the old ladies' home with newspaper reporters and photographers ready to sensationalize the stunt. Alabam recognizes Patsy and selects her. Patsy is introduced as the daughter of a

Confederate A confederation (also known as a confederacy or league) is a political union of sovereign states united for purposes of common action. Usually created by a treaty, confederations of states tend to be established for dealing with critical issu ...

general. Patsy is touched by Alabam's kind nature and begins to reform herself as well as Alabam. Patsy curtails her drinking and discovers that Kendall has been skimming most of Alabam's nightclub salary; Alabam fires Kendall as a result. Patsy wins $7,000 in a

craps Craps is a dice game in which players gambling, bet on the outcomes of the roll of a pair of dice. Players can wager money against each other (playing "street craps") or against a bank ("casino craps"). Because it requires little equipment, " ...

game and pretends that the money is from an inheritance. With Alabam out of work, the money is needed. Patsy also encourages Alabam to take acting, dancing and elocution lessons. Patsy visits theatrical producer David Opper, for whom Patsy was a star many years ago. Opper reluctantly agrees to allow Alabam an audition, but she fails to impress him. The wealthy Johnny meets Alabam and soon falls in love with her. Alabam tries to extract loan money from him. When Patsy realizes what Alabam is doing, the women quarrel and Patsy leaves Alabam. Johnny asks Alabam to marry him but then informs her that his mother has promised to disown him and leave him a poor man if they marry. Alabam, who has fallen in love with Johnny, is relieved, because nobody will think that she is marrying him for his money. After Patsy and Johnny's mother visit Judge Daly asking him to stop the relationship, Daly calls Alabam into his office and threatens to reinstate her sentence, but she is unfazed. However, when he tells her that Johnny's career and social standing will be ruined by her past, she surrenders and returns to Kendall. Patsy, who had also been initially opposed to the marriage, changes her mind when she sees that Alabam is truly in love. She reveals to Alabam that she was once in the same situation with Johnny's father before their relationship ended. Patsy has regretted the breakup ever since and does not want Alabam to repeat her mistake. Alabam's fan dance at the nightclub is interrupted by the police, who take her to Judge Daly's office where she is confronted by Daly, Patsy and Johnny. Alabam embraces Johnny.

Cast

as Alabam Lee *

as Patricia "Patsy" Patterson *

Roger Pryor Roger Atkinson Pryor (July 19, 1828 – March 14, 1919) was an American newspaper editor, lawyer, politician and judge. A journalist and U.S. Congressman from Virginia known as a Southern "fire eater" for his fiery oratory in favor of slaver ...

as Johnny Mills * Walter Connolly as Judge Daly *

Arthur Hohl Arthur Hohl (May 21, 1889 – March 10, 1964) was an American stage and motion-picture character actor. Formative years and family Born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania on May 21, 1889, Hohl began appearing in films during the early 1920s. He playe ...

as Charlie Kendall *

Raymond Walburn Raymond Walburn (September 9, 1887 – July 26, 1969) was an American character actor of stage and screen who appeared in dozens of Hollywood movie comedies and an occasional dramatic role during the 1930s and 1940s. Life and career Born ...

as Front O'Malley * James Burke as Sergeant Brannigan *

Henry Kolker Joseph Henry Kolker (November 13, 1874 – July 15, 1947) was an American stage and film actor and film director, director. Early years Kolker was born in Berlin, Germany, in 1874. (Some sources say 1870.) He came to America at age five and w ...

as David Opper *

Mariska Aldrich Mariska Aldrich (née Horvath; March 27, 1881 – September 28, 1965) was an American dramatic soprano singer and actress. Life She was born in Boston, Massachusetts. She was a pupil of Alfred Giraudet (1906–1909) and George Henschel. She ...

as Lucretia * John T. Doyle as Walsh (as John Doyle)

References

External links

* * * {{Jo Swerling 1934 films American black-and-white films 1930s romantic comedy-drama films American romantic comedy-drama films Films with screenplays by Jo Swerling Films scored by Louis Silvers Columbia Pictures films Fiction about publicity stunts 1934 comedy films 1934 drama films 1930s American films 1930s English-language films English-language romantic comedy-drama films