Sunday, March 27, 2011

More Than a Secretary (1936)


Carol Baldwin (Jean Arthur) and Helen Davis (Ruth Donnelly) are the owners of the Supreme Secretarial School. Both are women who have put a career before a man. When they chastise Maizie West (Dorthea Kent), one of their worst students, she states she does not need perfect skills for the office. Her aim is to win over the boss with her looks. She warns Carol that she’ll soon be like the older Helen if she doesn’t try for a man soon.


Carol meets her dream man soon after. Magazine editor, Fred Gilbert (George Brent) runs Body and Brain and is in need of a competent secretary. Carol decides to take the job but finds it hard to adhere to Fred’s strict exercise and diet regime led by his trainer Ernest (Lionel Stander). Taking the opportunity to liven up the magazine and improve circulation, Carol switches out Fred’s boring pictures for more exciting ones and the plan works. Circulation is up but Fred is furious, only relenting when he realizes Carol had the right idea. Thinking that she and Fred are on the path to romance, Carol is disappointed to learn that Fred's old friend, Bill Houston (Reginald Denny), has begged him to take Maizie, his secretary, off his hands because his wife is returning from Europe. Fred is immediately smitten by Maizie and promotes Carol to associate editor in order to have her as his new secretary. However, when he begins to neglect his work, Carol gets fed up and goes back to her old job.  Will Fred soon realize his mistake?
Though another formulaic thirties film, Arthur and Brent are a good onscreen pair with Stander and Donnelly an added comedic element. I’m currently reading Jean Arthur: The Actress Nobody Knew by John Oller. It’s a very interesting book. I never knew that Arthur was more reclusive than even Garbo or that she had so many insecurities about her acting. I find her to be quite a talent but according to Oller’s book, talent was something she always strived for but couldn’t handle once she had.

Today on TCM! Love me some Geraldine Page!
Dear Heart (1964) A middle-aged postmistress falls for an engaged man during a convention in New York.
Cast: Glenn Ford, Geraldine Page, Angela Lansbury. Dir: Delbert Mann.
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8 comments:

  1. Grand Old MoviesMarch 27, 2011 at 8:31 AM

    The movie seems split between 2 camps: on the one hand, Carol is told if she sticks to her career, she'll be an old maid, so she better find a man quick; on the other, Carol is better at running the magazine than her boss! As Lewis Carroll's White Queen would say, there's a moral here, if we can only find it...
    Frank Capra mentioned in his autobiography how insecure an actress Arthur was (she would throw up before filming each scene, etc). It never showed in any of her performances, though. Such a great talent!

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  2. BaronessVonVintageMarch 27, 2011 at 10:25 AM

    I love movies depicting 30s "office girl" fashions. Must add this to my list of movies to view!

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  3. SarahMarch 27, 2011 at 11:29 AM

    GOM- This is why I love Frank Capra! He shows both sides of the coin- how being a workaholic or a gold digger both have their flaws. Jean Arthur was his favorite actress to work with and despite her insecurities or perhaps because of them- she was definitely one of a kind.

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  4. Clara FercovicMarch 27, 2011 at 12:34 PM

    Cool you're reading John Oller's book, I finished it two weeks ago, it's great :) I have to check this movie.

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  5. FlickChickMarch 27, 2011 at 2:50 PM

    Sarah - I must see this movie! Thanks for the post!

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  6. Jacqueline T. LynchMarch 27, 2011 at 4:42 PM

    Fun movie. The relationship angle may seem dated, but the diet and exercise bit is ahead of its time. Jean Arthur always a joy to watch.

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  7. montyMarch 27, 2011 at 5:32 PM

    Great post Sarah. Color me interested now because I had never even heard of this film. Got to check it out now. George Brent is very underrated.

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  8. SarahMarch 27, 2011 at 6:58 PM

    Indeed he is Monty! But not on TCM- they are always having a mini- marathon of him, much to my delight! :)

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