Night After Night (4 Stars)

"Night After Night" is a gangster film made in 1932. It's best known as the first film appearance of Mae West, although she wasn't the film's main star. Her name is fourth in the list of actors, and she doesn't appear on screen until 37 minutes into the film, but let's look at the film in the light of history. George Raft was a well known actor in the 1930's, and he continued making films into the 1960's, but how many people know him today? The same can be said of Constance Cummings. Wynne Gibson's career fizzled out even faster. But Mae West's name is still known today.

Mae West was 39 when she appeared in "Night After Night", which was very old for beginning a film career, but she was already a household name in America. She'd appeared in Broadway plays since she was 18, and she soon began to write her own plays. She was ahead of her time. She was overtly sexual, even bawdy, but she was a feminist and a supporter of gay rights. In 1927 she wrote "The Drag", a comedy about homosexuals. It was so shocking at the time that it couldn't be shown on Broadway, only at smaller venues.

Was Mae West's public appearance her real self or just an act? I think it was a mixture of the two. She was a sexually provocative person by nature, but she was intelligent enough to know when to turn her sexuality on and off as the situation demanded. She knew that she was at an advantage whenever she gave a man a tingle between his legs, and she wasn't afraid to do so, on-screen and off-screen.

It could be argued that Mae West wasn't a good actress. She made ten films in Hollywood, and in all of them her character is the same. She didn't want to play a wide variety of roles, she wanted to be herself. From her second film onwards she wrote the films herself, but even in "Night After Night" she insisted on rewriting her own dialogue. The biggest problem she had in her film career was censorship. Many of the lines she wrote had to be changed because they were considered too outrageous.

"Night After Night" is a film about Joe Anton, a likeable gangster who's worked his way up from the slums. It's 1932, and he owns the most popular Speakeasy in New York. The Prohibition did more to promote crime than any other law in American history. Now he's going through an existential crisis. He feels that money doesn't make him happy. He's tempted to give it all up, but his best friend Leo is persuading him to carry on. His girlfriend Iris also appreciates his wealth, which disturbs him. He admits to Leo that he doesn't love Iris. She's too materialistic for him.

Joe wants to better himself. He receives lessons from Mabel Jellybean, a schoolteacher who teaches him how to speak like a gentleman. Or at least, she tries to teach him. He can't stop using his New York slang. She also encourages him to speak about current affairs, such as the 1932 Conference of Lausanne, to make himself sound more interesting.

Joe is fascinated by a beautiful young woman who visits the Speakeasy every night and sits alone. He's afraid to speak to her, because she looks like an upper class woman, out of his league. He gets his chance when he has to evict a drunk who's bothering her. She tells him her name is Jerry Healey, and her family used to own the house. Her husband lost all his money in the 1929 stock market crash. He killed himself, and now she lives alone in a small apartment. She visits the Speakeasy to remember her happy years.

Joe arranges a date with Jerry, but he's afraid he'll show himself up, so he invites Mabel to sit with them to guide the conversation. Joe asks Jerry her opinion on the Conference of Lausanne, but she's confused by the question. Evidently she had other things on her mind and knew little about the conference.

And finally Mae West walks in as Maudie Triplett, one of Joe's old friends. More than a friend, maybe? Nothing further is said. What's certain is that she's part of his past, and he doesn't want her around now. The doormen tell her that Joe is busy, but that doesn't stop her. No man tells Maudie what to do.

Maudie opens Joe's jacket to check his clothes. She's impressed by the way he's dressed.

She also looks down at his trousers. She likes the way they hang. Before he can protest, she calls the waiter to bring another chair for her. The threesome has become a foursome. As you can expect, with Maudie at the table there's no more talk about the Conference of Lausanne. Maudie tells everyone to lighten up and drink more. Mabel especially drinks over her limit. The evening ends with Maudie and Mabel falling asleep in Leo's bed.

Does the film have a happy ending? Of course it does! Frankie Guard, the owner of a rival Speakeasy, wants to buy Joe out. He offers $50,000 but Joe asks for $250,000. They finally agree on $200,000 (which is more than four million dollars in today's money). Joe hasn't given up money, but he's stopped trying to earn more, and he can make Jerry happy.

What about Maudie? When they wake up in the morning, Maudie and Mabel are best friends. Maudie offers Mabel a job in her beauty parlour, and they drink on it. I had to include this screenshot. Maudie is wearing a see-through nightie, but you have to pause the film at the right moment to see anything.

Here's another glimpse. Mae West was a beautiful woman, although I have to admit that I like her primarily for her attitude, not her looks. This week I bought a box set of her films on Blu-ray. I've seen some but not all of them, and the films that I did see were years ago on television. Now I have a chance to wallow in her beauty, inside and out.