A Lady Takes a Chance

In 1938, an unmarried New York City bank clerk facing her 40th birthday ,Mollie Truesdale (Jean Arthur), with a trio of unsuitable suitors, finds that her cherished dream of making a 17-day all-expenses-paid bus trip to the Pacific Coast and back, isn't all she thought it would be...until she reaches Oregon and a bucking broncho tosses a rodeo performer on top of her and knocks her flat. Duke Hudkins (John Wayne), by way of apology, shows her the sights of Fairfield, Oregon, and she misses her bus, quarrels with the bewildered Duke, hitchhikes across a lot of desert...and a romance is born.

STARS: John Wayne, Jean Arthur, Charles Winninger

86 min | Comedy, Romance, Western | 1943 | Color

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Sweet, funny, charming
I won't bother to rehash the plot details, as others have already done so, but simply wish to express how much I enjoyed this film. It was a real treat from start to finish - slightly offbeat & definitely funny (but not goofy enough to be screwball) and sweet & romantic but not sentimental enough to be sappy.
Director William A. Seiter (who helmed "Sons of the Desert", Laurel & Hardy's best film, as well as other successful comedies) takes what is perhaps a shopworn premise and turns it into something special with the help of two extremely capable stars. John Wayne reveals his often underrated talent for light comedy in this - coming across just as masculine as always but with a sweet, funny softness that makes his Duke Hudkins extremely endearing. Jean Arthur is in a familiar role, playing a quirky but sweet city girl (Molly J. Truesdale) with just the right amount of spunk. Note her unconsciously forward behavior when the two of them first meet - wow! They are surprisingly wonderful together - watch the gentle, tender way the scene in the hay is handled. And never once did I feel like Jean Arthur faded to the background in Duke's presence. (In quite a few of his films, he is so charismatic and powerful a presence that his leading lady winds up looking about as charismatic as wilted celery.)
There are some funny scenes involving long bus rides, cold desert nights, sneezing horses, rodeo "groupies," bucking broncos, and broken cameras. The supporting cast is great, but they haven't much to do as this is really a film about a boy and a girl. Sharp-eyed fans of Gene Kelly and/or Frank Sinatra will recognize Grady Sutton from "Anchors Aweigh" as one of Molly's unspeakably drab beaux.