Friday, February 6, 2015

No Man of Her Own (1932)


“The girl who lands him will say no and put an anchor on it... But isn't it tough when all you can think of is yes?”

            Ladies, how many times have you ever dreamed of a man coming to your small town and taking you away from your boring life? *RAISES MY HAND REALLY FAST!* We all have there is no shame in admitting it. I live down by the Jersey Shore. There is nothing fun about living where I do. Most of the people I graduated high school with ten years ago are married with at least one kid. I did not even dry my hair or brush my teeth today! Give me a break I at least showered and put on a clean pair of sweatpants and t-shirt. Chick flicks and terrible chick shows have ruined my mind by implanting the cool dream of moving to New York City and finding Mr. Right. That would be somewhat cool but for me I would love to move to NYC just so I can have some fun and be around other humans. I am bored out of my misery! I would like to snag myself a man just to have someone to go places, have fun with, and make them watch some movies and shows. Besides not brushing my teeth or doing my hair over the weekends I work on this blog and lately marathoning Dr. Who (ROOOOOSSSSSE!!!). Pathetic right? Alright, TMI of my boring existence has been mentioned and I am sure you are ready to run away. I promise this post is about the Carole Lombard and Clark Gable film No Man of Her Own and my rambling has something to do with the story of it.
            Jerry Stewart (Gable) is a gambler and con artist with two other guys and a girl named Kay Everly (Dorothy MacKaill). Kay wants Jerry to stay with her and he tries to explain that he is not the kind of guy that stays around. Before he can leave there is a knock on the door. At the door is a man named Collins who was on the same boat as Jerry to and from Europe. Collins tells Jerry he is friends with the man he (Jerry) and his crew have just swindled and he is looking for a story to publish for his paper. With this information Jerry has to leave town and go hideout for a while somewhere.
            In the small town of Glendale lives a young lonely woman named Connie Randall (Lombard). She is beyond bored with her small town life and yearns for a man to come and sweep her off her feet for a life of adventure. The only thrill in Connie’s life is going to a cabin in the woods near a lake with a bunch of her friends on the weekend. There is a boy she had been seeing but he was not exciting enough for her. Before heading to the library where she works Connie plays a quick game of dice. She does not win and walks away. Jerry was standing near the cart when Connie walks up. He asks the guy at the cart who she is. Jerry heads to the library and pretends to want a library card. He has Connie “help” him find a book just to flirt with her. At one point he manages to make her get on a ladder so he can have a look at her legs. Connie tells him she has no interesting in going anywhere with him or seeing him again. Jerry overhears Connie tell another librarian how she likes him but would not want to go out with him even though she really does. Jerry waits all day in the library for Connie. As she closes the lights at the end of the day he walks the stacks and grabs her for a kiss. Connie is overwhelmed and responds by saying she will see him in church the next day.
            Jerry does go to church to following day and squeezes himself between Connie and her brother. They go up to the cabin by the lake together. They talk about things and the subject of marriage comes up. No shock, Connie and Jerry wind up getting married.
            The new couple heads back into the city. Jerry never told Connie that he is a gambler who is wanted by the DA. She gets him up early thinking he has a job to go to even though he had been out all night.
            Eventually Connie becomes wise to what Jerry really does. She makes him choose between her and gambling. She promises him she will wait for him when he is ready. He tells her to give him three months to find a job and packs her off to head back to Glendale. When Connie leaves Jerry turns himself into the DA and serves his three month sentence. While in jail, Jerry has his friend Charlie write cables that are supposed to be from him from South America to Connie. Charlie has even been taking Connie out and keeping her company. Charlie tells his friend that Kay and her mother are coming back to their apartment in the city to get it ready for him and that Kay is back in town as well and she is looking for some trouble.
            Connie calls the shipyard to see when a ship from Rio comes in. Someone tells her there is no ship. She is a bit puzzled but does not spend too much time on it. A call comes from the front desk saying that Kay is there and wants to speak to her. The two women talk about Jerry, naturally. Kay mentions how Jerry is doing time and finds out that Connie has no idea he has been in jail. That makes no difference to Connie she still loves Jerry. Kay takes the hint and leaves.
            When Jerry comes back the next day Connie just lets him go on with his story about being in Rio and listens to his tales with a smile on her face.

            I have to admit I had some high expectations for No Man of Her Own. Of course I know that Carole Lombard was the love of Clark Gable’s life and that this was their only film they made together. To me the film is like a Hollywood legend. I was a little disappointed with the story. I found it boring. It felt like there could have been more to the story. I will say that as much as I have that dream of finding a guy from a big city I would not want that guy to be like Larry who was a gambler and a liar no matter how well intentioned his lies were. Gable and Lombard worked well on screen together. I would not say they had a lot of screen chemistry but they worked. The scenes in the library where Larry is trying to flirt with Connie were great because Lombard gave Gable such attitude and was perfect when she huffed and walked away in a hurry. No Man of Her Own is absolutely worth seeing even if it was not that great.   

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