Night Nurse- a movie review

A few nights ago, I saw a movie on TCM called "Night Nurse" starring Barbara Stanwyck and Joan Blondell. A mustacheless Clark Gable was the bad guy. I was interested in the movie because I like Barbara Stanwyck but also for obvious reasons of seeing how nursing would be portrayed back then. The movie was made in 1931 and it showed a surprisingly sophisticated view of nursing especially when compared to the way we are showed today.

1. Nurses are shown as being under the supervision of a nursing supervisor: not reporting to docs as they are so often show today.

2. The nurses were skilled and made knowledgeable observations about the conditions and diseases of their patients; they also worked independently quite a bit even when they were in training. We know how rarely that happens in the media today.

3. Barbara Stanwyck is a strong patient advocate for her young patients working hard to save their lives and protect them from the evil Clark Gable.

4. There was talk of protecting their licenses and scope of practice even though they didn't use those exact words, something you almost never hear about in today's movies.

5. There was NO angel imagery whatsoever.

Also it was funny: Joan Blondell told Barbara Stanwyck about entering the profession of nursing: "Before I was afraid the hospital would burn down before I could get in it. Now I have to watch myself with matches."

I didn't cringe once. It's not perfect of course and there is some Hollywood stuff, it's a movie after all but if you dig old movies, you would like this one.