Lady for a Day

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Lady for a Day

1933,

1h 35m,

Comedy/

Drama

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Watchlist

100%

11 Reviews

Tomatometer

79%

500+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

11 Reviews

79%

Popcornmeter

500+ Ratings

An aging New York City fruit seller named Apple Annie (May Robson) attempts to maintain an outrageous charade. Long separated from her daughter, Louise (Jean Parker), who has been raised in a Spanish convent, Annie has hidden her modest position in life by claiming in her letters to be an aristocrat. When Louise finally comes to visit, Annie enlists the help of local gangster Dave the Dude (Warren William) to pose as a Manhattan socialite, leading to antics aplenty.

Francisco J. Ariza

Cine-Mundial

May 14, 2021

The best film Columbia has ever brought to the screen. [Full review in Spanish]

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Michael E. Grost

Classic Film and Television

Nov 30, 2015

One of Capra's best-loved films, with endearing characters and viewpoint.

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Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

Mar 25, 2009

B

Suitably made for Depression-era audiences, Frank Capra's version of Damon Ranyon's famed story is an endearing fable with a strong, Oscar-nominated turn from the vet actress May Robson as Apple Annie.

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Jeffrey M. Anderson

Combustible Celluloid

Oct 3, 2008

Capra spreads his usual feel-good schmaltz over the otherwise springy material.

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Daniel M. Kimmel

Worcester Telegram & Gazette

Feb 3, 2005

4/5

Andy Klein

Los Angeles CityBeat

Sep 2, 2004

4/5

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Han S

Mar 22, 2019

Lady for a Day has many great plot points and memorable moments throughout its runtime, but as a whole it just doesn't click as well as it should have. May Robson delivered one of the finest performances of this year and her character's great, but the other characters aren't all that interesting. It's a solid early effort from Frank Capra with a killer premise, but the execution wasn't the greatest or the funniest leading to one of his lesser achievements.

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Luke R

Oct 2, 2018

I loved this movie. It was beautiful to see how touched she was when everyone pulled together to help her.

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Frank Capra

Director

Warren William

Dave the Dude

May Robson

Apple Annie

Guy Kibbee

Judge Henry G. Blake

Glenda Farrell

Missouri Martin

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Synopsis

An aging New York City fruit seller named Apple Annie (May Robson) attempts to maintain an outrageous charade. Long separated from her daughter, Louise (Jean Parker), who has been raised in a Spanish convent, Annie has hidden her modest position in life by claiming in her letters to be an aristocrat. When Louise finally comes to visit, Annie enlists the help of local gangster Dave the Dude (Warren William) to pose as a Manhattan socialite, leading to antics aplenty.

Director: Frank Capra
Screenwriter: Damon Runyon, Robert Riskin
Distributor: Criterion Collection, Columbia Pictures
Production Co: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Sep 7, 1933, Original
Release Date (DVD): Feb 3, 2004
Runtime: 1h 35m
Sound Mix: Mono

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