Wife vs. Secretary (1936)

Director:

Clarence Brown

Writers:

Faith Baldwin (story)
Norman Krasna (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

28 February 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

The wife of a publishing executive mistakenly believes that her husband's relationship with his attractive secretary is more than professional.

Plot Keywords:

Periodical | Maid | Business Trip | Fidelity | Office

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Van
Jean Harlow	...	Whitey
Myrna Loy	...	Linda
May Robson	...	Mimi
George Barbier	...	Underwood
James Stewart	...	Dave
Hobart Cavanaugh	...	Joe
Tom Dugan	...	Finney
Gilbert Emery	...	Simpson
Marjorie Gateson	...	Eve Merritt
Gloria Holden	...	Joan Carstairs

Runtime:

88 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #1989)

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

The name of one of the screenwriters, Alice Duer Miller, is seen as the author of an article in a magazine, and Clark Gable remarks, "Hey, Alice has written a very nice article here."

Goofs:

Continuity: When Whitey and Van are working late in the hotel room, Van sits on the edge of the bed. After Whitey tells him to watch the papers strewn on the bed he begins to sit in the middle of the bed. As the scene continues he is shown sitting on the foot of the bed.

Quotes:

Linda: Wll, after all, Van, she is an uncommonly good-looking girl. I don't know of anyone in our crowd who's as attractive, and people aren't willing to believe that looks go with brains.
Van: Well, one of the smallest troubles we've ever had, Linda, is caring what other people think.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Harlow: The Blonde Bombshell (1993) (TV)

Soundtrack:

She Was Poor But She Was Honest

The Genius of Jean

I treasure this film for Jean Harlow's performance, capped by a magnificent, simple line reading: "You are a fool. For which I am grateful."

She had amazing range for an actress who died at 26. Howard Hughes presented her in "Hell's Angels" (1930) as an amoral menace to civilization. (When she slips into "something comfortable" she actually puts on clothes.) It would be charitable to call her appearance in that picture acting. Yet within a couple of years she could dominate the screen by the force of genuine talent.

Her starring career blazed briefly, but with almost no wasted roles. Here she gets to behave like a normal working class woman--not a débutante, nor a tenement dweller, nor a criminal's moll, nor a voracious mantrap, nor a comic banshee, nor an adventuress working the China Seas or Malay docksides.

Clark Gable and Myrna Loy have more customary roles. A part this quiet remains a rarity for the winsome, brilliant, and doomed Harlow.