Tip-top Pre-Code dramedy about tyrannical department store manager Warren William, a ruthless manipulator of 12,000 employees under him, and the board members, bank officers & absentee-owner above. In a series of swift cutaways, we watch store fortunes rise in the ‘20s, only to crumble as The Depression kicks in. The rest of the film charts his desperate (often despicable) struggle to stay ahead of the competition by any means, whether bailing on a delivery gone awry, or losing old-timers for junior execs like Wallace Ford with fresh ideas and 24/7 work ethics. What William doesn’t know is that Ford’s gone behind his back to marry lovely store model Loretta Young (dewy & beautiful at 19). And what Ford doesn’t know is that Young succumbed to Warren ‘Pre’ & ‘Post’ Nuptials. Meanwhile, the store’s falling fortunes have the bankers salivating for a takeover. All packed into 75", chock-a-block with hilarious sex angles (that’s Alice White as the tart minx spying on a rival for William even if it means learning to play chess!); and tragic vignettes of ousted long-time administrators. Jack-of-all-genres director Roy Del Ruth, in one of his best outings, keeps it all moving and clear as a department store display window. Not to be missed.
ATTENTION MUST BE PAID: Warren William always played (and looked) a decade older than he was. (Died young, too, only 53.) Wallace Ford, the ‘kid’ he mentors, was only four years younger.
DOUBLE-BILL: At Pre-Code Warners, William was Sleazebag King. From 1932, try THE MOUTHPIECE or THREE ON A MATCH.
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