To Please a Lady

Plot

Racing driver Mike Brannan (Clark Gable), has a reputation for doing whatever it takes to win. Powerful nationwide columnist Regina Forbes (Barbara Stanwyck) decides to interview Brannan just before a race, and becomes annoyed when he is rather brusque with her. Brannan and popular competitor Joe Youghal ("Bullet" Joe Garson) fight for the lead. When a car they are about to lap crashes in front of them, Brannan safely drives around it on the inside, forcing Youghal to try to go outside. In her column the next day, Regina blames Brannan for Youghal's death and brings up a prior racing fatality involving him. As a result, he is barred by nervous racing circuit managers anxious to avoid bad publicity.

Brannan has to sell his race car. He becomes a star stunt driver for Joie Chitwood (William C. McGaw), performing dangerous stunts at circuses for $100 a show. When Regina's assistant, Gregg (Adolphe Menjou), updates her about Brannan, she shows unexpected interest. She goes to see how Brannan is doing. He tells her he has earned enough money to buy a car of his own and enter the big leagues, where Regina has no influence. She provokes him into first slapping and then kissing her. She likes it, and they start seeing each other.

He is very successful on the racetrack, but their relationship is rocky. Finally comes the big race at Indianapolis Speedway. At a key moment, Brannan drives cautiously rather than aggressively, but his car flips anyway. He is rushed to the hospital, where Regina lets him know that she is proud of him.

Cast

Reception

According to MGM records the film earned $2,061,000 in the US and Canada and $861,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $47,000.