In 1938, an unmarried New York City bank clerk facing her 40th birthday, Molly J. Truesdale (Jean Arthur), has a trio of unsuitable suitors. Her suitors all protest when, on a whim, Molly boards a bus from New York City to realize her cherished dream of making a 17-day all-expenses-paid bus trip to the Pacific Coast and back.
Discovering the American West isn't all she thought it would be...until Molly reaches Oregon and attends a rodeo, where a bucking bronco tosses rider Duke Hudkins (John Wayne) right into her lap.
By way of apology, Duke buys her a beer and Molly brings him luck while gambling, but his friend, Waco (Charles Winninger), warns her that Duke is not right for her. Whenever Duke warms to her charms, Molly panics and shies away. Duke escorts Molly to various places and events until she learns that her tour bus has left without her. Her pride will not permit Duke and Waco to help her, so she plans to hitchhike, but in the dead of night she meekly accepts a ride to the next bus depot from Duke and Waco.
The three camp outdoors overnight. The cowboys are comfortable but Molly is not, so she takes a horse blanket from Duke's horse, Sammy (Mysty Shot). The next day, Duke is incensed when Sammy catches pneumonia. Molly makes one last-ditch attempt to snare Duke by preparing an elegant dinner, but Duke is reluctant. He insists that he will not sacrifice his freedom for love. Molly feels defeated and returns to New York and her waiting suitors, who are astounded when Duke suddenly appears to claim Molly. They take the same tour bus back to the West.
A 1943 American romantic screwball comedy western film directed by William A. Seiter, produced by Frank Ross, screenplay by Robert Ardrey, story by Jo Swerling, cinematography by Frank Redman, starring Jean Arthur, John Wayne, Phil Silvers, Charles Winninger, Mary Field, Don Costello, John Philliber, Grady Sutton, Grant Withers, Hans Conried, Jean Stevens, Ariel Heath, Sugar Geise, Joan Blair, Tom Fadden, and Cy Kendall. Final scene appearance of Nina Quartero. Released by RKO Radio Pictures.
Producer Frank Ross was Jean Arthur's husband at the time.
The film accrued $2,500,000 at the box office, earning a profit of $582,000. $250,000 was spent on advertising and at that time was one of the largest budgets ever used.
The Cactus Milk drink that Molly orders at the saloon, and that almost knocks her out, is made with tequila, triple sec, gin, and, of course, cactus milk.
Although his character in the film is named Duke Hudkins, John Wayne got his nickname "The Duke" long before. In his early teens living in Glendale, California, Wayne had a dog named Duke. They were so inseparable that family and friends called them Little Duke and Big Duke. For Wayne, who soon entered high school theatrical productions, the name stuck.
Jean Arthur (1900-1991), born Gladys Georgianna Greene in Plattsburgh, New York, was an American film and theater actress whose career began in silent films in the early 1920s and lasted until the early 1950s. Arthur was discovered by Fox Film Studios while doing commercial modeling in New York City in the early 1920s, the newly named Jean Arthur landed a one-year contract and debuted in the silent film "Cameo Kirby" (1923), directed by John Ford. She reputedly took her stage name from two of her greatest heroes, Joan of Arc (Jeanne d'Arc) and King Arthur. The studio was looking for new American sweethearts with sufficient sex appeal to interest the Jazz Age audiences. Arthur was remodeled as such a personality, a flapper. Arthur had feature roles in three Frank Capra films: "Mr. Deeds Goes to Town" (1936) with Gary Cooper, "You Can't Take It with You" (1938) co-starring James Stewart, and "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), also starring Stewart. These three films all championed the "everyday heroine", personified by Arthur. No one was more closely identified with the screwball comedy than Jean Arthur. So much was she part of it, so much was her star personality defined by it, that the screwball style itself seems almost unimaginable without her. She has been called "the quintessential comedic leading lady". Her last film performance was non-comedic, playing the homesteader's wife in George Stevens's "Shane" (1953). Like Greta Garbo, Arthur was well known in Hollywood for her aversion to publicity. She was very guarded about her privacy and rarely signed autographs or granted interviews. Life observed in a 1940 article: "Next to Garbo, Jean Arthur is Hollywood's reigning mystery woman.
The Film Daily's review: "Smart, clever romantic comedy should prove a box-office wow. Every moment of it is vastly entertaining and amusing beyond the ordinary. John Wayne turns in a far better job than one would have expected of him. One wouldn't be going overboard in saying it was his best work yet ... [Seiter] has brought out the fine qualities of the script masterfully. He has truly made 'A Lady Takes a Chance' delicious entertainment."