Best Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role 1935
Claudette Colbert It Happened One Night 1935
SEX WORKER ROLE
Sally Clark in His Woman 1931
Character Is A Dance Hall Girl & Prostitute
Claudette Colbert in His Woman 1931
In the film “His Woman,” Claudette Colbert plays Sally Clark, an ex-hooker desperate to leave the Caribbean for New York. She poses as a missionary’s daughter and gets hired as a nanny. She agrees to take care of a baby in exchange for her passage to New York. The romance develops between Sally and the ship’s Captain (played by Gary Cooper). But once they reach land, the Captain learns about Sally’s past. And his reaction is not a positive one, far from it. Of course, in true Hollywood style, it all works out.
Watch clip of the film “His Woman”
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Colbert also played roles as a dance hall girl in ‘His Woman’ (1931) and a torch singer in ‘Torch Singer’ (1933). In both roles her characters are depicted as having a reputation for lewdness–and the films seem to suggest that being a dance hall girl or a torch singer was something akin to being a prostitute. In fact, in His Woman a sailor hints at having had a sexual encounter with her and it’s clear by the conversation between the sailor and Sally Clark (Colbert) they’ve met before. The details of their meeting aren’t clear, but what is clear is the meeting wasn’t pleasant for Sally, and whatever had happened it involved sex. There’s a scene in the film where the sailor attempts to rape her, but Captain Whelan (Gary Cooper) intervenes and fends off her attacker. Also, another sailor on the ship recognizes Sally, too… so the suggestion is, she was a loose woman…