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6.5/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.5/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. A Lady's Profession remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
If you have seventy minutes to spare and a soft spot for pre-code nonsense where posh British people hang out with American gangsters, A Lady's Profession is a weirdly fun watch. People who love fast-talking 1930s farce will find it charming, but if you can't stand old movies where the sound quality feels like it was recorded inside a tin can, you will probably hate this.
It is basically about an English Lord and his sister who lose all their money and decide the best way to make a buck is to run an illegal speakeasy in America. Inside a horse riding club, of all places. 🐴
Roland Young (mistakenly listed as Ronald Young in some old theater bills) is the main draw here. He has this incredibly dry, mumbling delivery that makes it feel like he wandered onto the wrong movie set but decided to stay anyway.
His sister is played by Alison Skipworth, who is basically a human steamroller in a fancy hat. She dominates every single room she walks into, and her chemistry with the thugs is hilarious.
There is a great bit where she tries to explain what "high tea" is to a bunch of bootleggers. The gangsters just stare at her like she is speaking alien. It has that same chaotic, throw-everything-at-the-wall vibe of other comedies from 1933, even the weird shorts like Scratch-As-Catch-Can that were coming out around the same time.
Not everything works, of course. The romance between Kent Taylor and Sari Maritza feels incredibly flat, like they both just wanted to get their paychecks and go home. I honestly forgot they were even in the movie until they showed up again in the last ten minutes.
But the character actors absolutely save it. Warren Hymer plays a tough guy who is basically a giant puppy, and his facial expressions are gold. He has this way of looking confused that makes you want to pat him on the head.
The movie kind of just... stops. There is not really a big climax, just a bunch of people running around a parlor and then a sudden happy ending where everything gets sorted out because the plot demands it.
It is imperfect and creaky, but I kind of love it for that. If you want something light and silly from an era when movies did not feel like they had to explain their own jokes, give it a shot.
IMDb 6.6
1923
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