It doesn't take long into the film to see Night Nurse is a very negative portrayal of the health service. Dr Kildare this is not and even makes 1934's Men In White come off as a more an idealised vision on the health care system in the 1930's; Night Nurse is anything but. All within the first ten minutes Barbara Stanwyck is turned down for the job as a nurse but then gets it after catching the fancy from a doctor, one of the interns is a pervert and Joan Blondell recommends tricking patients into thinking you've saved their life in order to get money out of them. Blondell's character in particular I really found myself loathing from an actress who normally played such likable characters. She clearly dislikes her profession and even recites the Florence Nightingale pledge while chewing gum. Night Nurse is a movie with a wide range of despicable human beings on display. There is even a scene which appears to show an actual baby in distress and another in which children talk about in graphic terms of the abuse they have received: not very comfortable viewing.Night Nurse is a perfect example of the kind of pictures Warner Bros produced during the 1930's; a thought provoking socially conscious melodrama. Whether or not it's exaggerated the plot of hospital corruption and the ineffectiveness of both the hospital and the authorities to prevent child abuse, the movie does succeed in packing a punch. What does it say when the intervention of gangsters is required to save the life of a child? Warner Bros where also known for featuring ethnic casts in their movies. At the beginning of the movie a shot focuses on a group of Chinese people sitting around a hospital bed speaking in their native language although here it doesn't have any bearing on the rest of the plot. There is also an emphasises that the shop which is broken into in order to steal milk for a bath in order to save the lives of malnourished children is from a Kosher delicatessen. Is there a particular reason for this? This was 1931 but history has made of this scene of the delicatessen windows being smashed unintentional creepy.The best reason to see Night Nurse though is Clark Gable in a role which I point to as proof of his acting ability. Gable is scary enough as a character who wants to murder children and isn't afraid to punch a woman but this is multiplied by the fact that he's dressed like a Nazi. OK not really, it's a chauffeur's uniform but when I first saw him wearing this, my instant reaction was "Why is he dressed like an SS officer?" He could have had a knack at playing villains; such unrealised potential. His character's introduction with the use of a camera zoom and the uttering of "I'm Nick...the chauffeur" gives me chills - melodramatic perfection.

This Pre-Code Film takes More Risks than just the Risqué Underwear Shots and Double Meaning Dialog. After the First Half Establishing the Medical Template and Barbara Stanwyck's Title Character with Scenes Among Horny Interns and Medical Procedures, the Movie Explodes into Lurid Exploitations of Alcohol Abuse, Drug Sniffing Doctors with Nose Twitches, and a Plot to Starve Children to Death to Collect Trust Funds.There is Crackling Dialog about Ethics, and Stanwyck Standing Up to a Brutish Villain, Played by Clark Gable, who Punches and Slaps Around Anyone Within Arm's Reach. The Drunks here are So Inebriated They can Barely Stand Up or Speak Clearly and Spend a lot of Time Weaving Around and Falling on the Floor.Especially the Mother of the Victimized Children Drowning Her Guilt and Blaming it on the Booze. "I'm a Dipsomaniac and proud of it". She Slurs. Stanwyck says..."You Mother..." and then Pauses. Even in the Pre-Code Films the F-Word was Forbidden in Hollywood.This Touching, Grim, and Stunning Look at the Dark Side of Humanity is a Must See for Fans of Pre-Code Movies, Stanwyck, Gable, and the Always Bubbly Joan Blondell. It is Typical Warner Bros. Social Concern, Director William Wellman Crafts an Example how Nastiness and Evil could be Shown Before the Code in an Entertaining and Enlightening way with Two-Dimensional Characters like the "Hero" Bootlegger, without Pussy Footing Around. It Deals with the Thug in this Story in a Realistic and Finalized Way, that would be Impossible in Postcode Cinema.

Tough young nurse Lora (Barbara Stanwyck) is assigned as personal nurse to two children. She comes to believe they are in danger from their alcoholic mother and her brutish chauffeur Nick (Clark Gable) . When she gets no help from her superiors, she turns to Mortie (Ben Lyon), a bootlegger she treated for a gunshot wound. Wonderful Pre-Coder from director William Wellman. Stanwyck is very good in an early role. Clark Gable makes a great heavy. Sassy Joan Blondell is lots of fun. Charles Winninger, Vera Lewis, and Ralf Harolde offer fine support. Ben Lyon, largely forgotten today, does remarkably well here with actors who would go on to become screen legends. Don't miss those scenes of Stanwyck & Blondell undressing. Scenes like that are what Pre-Code film lovers live for.

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 ****