As the only female director working regularly at the height of the old Hollywood studio system (mostly the 1930s; mostly at Paramount, R.K.O, M-G-M), Dorothy Arzner now gets more than her fair share of critical attention; too often for the ‘wrong’ films. (A thesis behind every article.) She was probably at her best for Paramount in (late) Early Talkies dealing with Modern Women and Romance. That’s what we’ve got here as Claudette Colbert shows off her brains and her figure as Personal Secretary to Fredric March, an inherited Master-of-Business type sporting a dashing mustache and lording it over his stuffy Board of Directors at work, and various gals of the moment on the town. Only Colbert refuses to join the club, stuck on rising broker Monroe Owsley, a man she could start a life with from the ground up. March’s society pals only seeing her as a ‘working girl,’ even if her work is totally legit. But stopping March’s constant passes with a quickie wedding to Owsley proves disastrous as he’s soon in over his head financially. Meanwhile, March has grown up to realize he doesn’t want Colbert as just another bed-mate, but as his one-and-only. A bit of melodrama in the last act (accidental shooting) is fun, but strains our good sense. So too, the class-will-out plot mechanics. Yet the film as a whole is unusually satisfying. A Paramount paradigm of this sort of thing, especially for Colbert who’s enchanting. (IMDb only lists a certain Caroline Putnam on wardrobe, but that form-fitting slinky silk item and the half-length fur number have got to be the work of costume designer Travis Banton, already working at Paramount.) Nice support, too, with Charles Ruggles as a dissolute millionaire squiring a very young, very dumb, very funny Ginger Rogers amongst the East Coast elites.
DOUBLE-BILL/LINK: Made the next year, Arzner’s MERRILY WE GO TO HELL/’32 moves from financial to artistic circles; reversing sexes with March as struggling writer & Sylvia Sidney as wealthy mentor. It also shows how fast Talkies were getting back on their feet technically. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2012/01/merrily-we-go-to-hell-1932.html
OR: A similar situation ironed-out M-G-M style by splitting the love interest into two parts for WIFE VS. SECRETARY/’36 - with a powerhouse cast: Gable, Harlow, Loy; James Stewart. https://maksquibs.blogspot.com/2008/06/wife-vs-secretary-1936.html
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