Lady for a Day

(repost from LJ 2/6/07)

The other day I watched the most amazing movie. It was called "Lady for a Day" and was directed by Frank Capra in 1933. It surprised me with how totally funny it was. The gang leader was named Dave the Dude, and he had great gang member names like Shakespeare and Happy, and there was a legless beggar named Shorty, and it was super cool. The gangsters were interacting with society folk and the results cracked me up over and over:

Gangster: “...sock the Weasel? But he’s my brother!”


Judge Eliot: “In your own vernacular: Nertz to you!”


Happy: “That should be a cinch.”
Butler: “I beg your pardon Sir?”
Happy: “I said, that should be a LEAD PIPE CINCH.”
Butler: “If I had choice of weapons with you, Sir, I’d choose grammar.”


Dave the Dude: "You should get your mind off that dizzy dame."
Shakespeare: "Oh her? I never think about her during the DAYtime."


Judge Eliot: “I should not hurry so. It plays havoc with my dignity.”


Dave the Dude: "Hey! Hey! Missouri, that man can't go in there!"
Missouri Mary: "It's all right, Dave...it's all right."
Dave the Dude: "Oh......Pierre."


Judge Eliot: “Would you suggest I fold my tent and silently scram into the night?”


Oh man, good fun. I looked up the phrase "nertz" for etymology, and found out that it first appeared in 1932 as a university slang pronunciation of "nuts." Can you imagine such new slang?