Night After Night
“George Raft appears here as the nouveau-riche gangster-owner of a speakeasy. He yearns to be cultured and upper-class, like many of those who flock to his former-Park-Avenue-mansion saloon. These include Constance Cummings, a restless ex-debutante on the verge of cynically marrying for money when she falls for Raft's piratical ways. The incomparable Mae West, in her first film, is Raft's genial old girlfriend with a soft heart and a strong head for booze. She introduces liquor to Alison Skipworth, a society matron who is tutoring Raft in his R's; in a wonderful scene the two women from vastly different walks of life get drunk together and become fast friends and business partners.
“Alcohol is woven through this film on several levels. First, it is a way for clever crooks to make money, soaking the willing rich. The gangsters themselves hardly touch the stuff (like present-day big dope dealers); at all times, they are cool, collected, and lethal. In another sense, alcohol is the great leveler, bringing people together from different strata: the racketeer and the society girl, the moll and the matron.... But, overall, the results are mixed and unpredictable when the social classes mingle. There's little sentimentality about human motives in relationships here, despite the obligatory romantic ending; the crudeness of this pre-Code film admits a pleasant element of uncertainty.” --Dorie Klein