''Danger! Women at Work'' is a 1943 American

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Sam Newfield Sam Newfield, born Samuel Neufeld (December 6, 1899 – November 10, 1964), also known as Sherman Scott or Peter Stewart, was an American Film director, director, one of the most prolific in American film history—he is credited with directin ...

and written by Martin Mooney. The film stars

Patsy Kelly Patsy Kelly (born Bridget Sarah Veronica Rose Kelly; January 12, 1910 – September 24, 1981) was an American actress. She is known for her role as the brash, wisecracking sidekick to Thelma Todd in a series of comedy shorts produced by Ha ...

Mary Brian Mary Brian (born Louise Byrdie Dantzler, February 17, 1906 – December 30, 2002) was an American actress who made the transition from silent films to sound films. Early life Brian was born in Corsicana, Texas, the daughter of Taurrence J. ...

Isabel Jewell Isabel Jewell (July 19, 1907 – April 5, 1972) was an American actress, who rose to prominence in the 1930s and early 1940s. Some of her more famous films were '' Ceiling Zero'', ''Marked Woman'', ''A Tale of Two Cities'', and ''Gone with the Wi ...

Wanda McKay Wanda McKay (born Dorothy Quackenbush; June 22, 1915 – April 11, 1996) was an American actress and model. Early years McKay was born as Dorothy Quackenbush in Portland, Oregon,McKay's obituary in the Los Angeles Times says that she was " ...

Betty Compson Betty Compson (born Eleanor Luicime Compson; March 19, 1897 – April 18, 1974) was an American actress and film producer who got her start during Hollywood's silent era. She is best known for her performances in ''The Docks of New York'' and '' ...

and Cobina Wright Sr.. The film was released on August 23, 1943, by

Producers Releasing Corporation Producers Releasing Corporation (generally known as PRC) was the smallest and least prestigious of the 11 Hollywood film companies of the 1940s. It was considered a prime example of what was called " Poverty Row": a low-rent stretch of Gower St ...

Plot

Pert and Marie are gas station attendants and Terry drives a cab, all doing their part for the war effort. Terry inherits a bungalow in Glendale and a 10-ton truck from her recently deceased Uncle Joe, and is at her wits' end as to what to do with the rig. Terry and Pert are advised to go into the trucking business by Pert's boyfriend, Danny. The girls are soon approached by someone named Benny from the finance company who threatens to repossess the truck if the mortgage on it isn't settled. Danny introduces the girls to his boss and he agrees to pay them $100 if they bring back a load of nitroglycerin back from Las Vegas, but they need to carry cargo there in order for them to travel legally on the highways, so they advertise. They are then visited by a smooth operator named Duke Edwards who promises them $125 to drive a load of furniture to Las Vegas in time for the opening of a gambling casino. They take up the offer and hit the road, but not before Terry gets her driver's license and then a trucking license with her fiancé, Pete, who is also a trucker. Along the way to Vegas, they pick up several hitchhikers: a rich society matron named Regina with amnesia, Madame Sappho the Fortune-Teller, and a young woman named Doris Bendix, the daughter of a millionaire, who is running away from a family who wants her to marry a rich engineer, despite her considerations. Before crossing the Nevada border, a motorcycle patrolman warns them that they cannot drive at night in that area, and that they must stay at the motel up the road for the night. Once at the motel, they find themselves a couple of seedy characters in the lounge and play a round of craps with them. Terry wins big, and claims they never played a game of craps in their entire lives. The losing gamblers overhear on the radio about Miss Bendix and the $5000 reward for her location. Sam, the bellboy at the motel, points her photo out in a newspaper to them. Meanwhile, Regina's husband, Mr. North (a rich rancher and former senator), is trying to locate his wife. He asks the motel manager about her, and is told she had just left with several other girls in a truck. The women all later end up in jail after the gamblers send out a warrant. Pete and Danny rush to Nevada to provide any help they can. Terry explains everything that occurred to Judge Higginbottom, clears everything up, and he lets them off. He also ends up marrying Terry & Pete, Pert & Danny, and Doris and her chosen fiancé, Tommy. Terry smashes a vase over Regina's head, and she regains her memory, reuniting with her husband.

Cast

as Terry Olsen *

as Pert *

as Marie *

as Doris Bendix *

as Madame Sappho *Cobina Wright Sr. as Regina * Jack Randall as Danny *

Warren Hymer Edgar Warren Hymer (February 25, 1906 – March 25, 1948) was an American theatre and film actor. Early life He was born in New York City. His father, John Bard Hymer (1875/1876 – 1953) was a playwright (with nine Broadway plays to ...

as Pete *

Vince Barnett Vince Barnett (July 4, 1902 – August 10, 1977) was an American film actor. He appeared on stage originally before appearing in more than 230 films between 1930 and 1975. Early years Barnett was born July 4, 1902, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylva ...

as Benny *Michael Kirk as Tommy

Additional info

This was Patsy Kelly's last starring role in a motion picture. Though endeared by the public, she was soon after blackballed by the major studios in Hollywood for her refusal to discontinue her homosexual activity off-camera. She paid the bills over the next decade or so by appearing on radio, TV game shows, the occasional teleplay, and "working" as a domestic for

Tallulah Bankhead Tallulah Brockman Bankhead (January 31, 1902 – December 12, 1968) was an American actress. Primarily an actress of the stage, Bankhead also appeared in several films including an award-winning performance in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Lifeboat (194 ...

. She did not appear in another film for seventeen years, until ''

Please Don't Eat the Daisies ''Please Don't Eat the Daisies'' (New York: Doubleday, 1957) is a best-selling collection of humorous essays by American humorist and playwright Jean Kerr about suburban living and raising four boys. The essays do not have a plot or through-s ...

'' in 1960, and from thereafter appeared in only supporting roles.

References

External links

* {{Sam Newfield 1943 films American comedy films 1943 comedy films Producers Releasing Corporation films Films directed by Sam Newfield American black-and-white films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films