How Long Is “Night Nurse”?

Even by pre-Production Code standards, Night Nurse is pretty raw meat. Barbara Stanwyck appears in various states of dishabille as Lora Hart, a nurse hired as a governess for the children of alcoholic socialite Mrs. Ritchie (Charlotte Merriam, who replaced Mildred Harris during shooting). Lora is shocked at the degree to which kids have been neglected by their tosspot mother and even more shocked at the behavior of Mrs. Ritchie's chauffeur Nick (Clark Gable), who seems to have a sinister influence over the household. A grade-A louse, Nick has concocted a scheme to starve the two kids to death then gain control of their trust fund by marrying Mrs. Ritchie. Advised by her best friend Maloney (Joan Blondell) to call the cops, Lora is browbeaten into silence by the brutish Nick. But help arrives in the form of Mortie (Ben Lyon), a likeable bootlegger who cheerfully uses his mob connections to put Nick "on the spot.", A nurse in the care of some children discovers that the tykes are the targets of a murder plot, and puts herself in danger to save them from the terrible fate.