The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)

Director:

Sam Wood

Writer:

Norman Krasna (written by)

Release Date:

11 April 1941 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Plot:

A tycoon goes undercover to ferret out agitators at a department store, but gets involved in their lives instead.

Plot Keywords:

Wine | Shoe | Wealth | Watch | Police Station

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Oscars.

Cast

Jean Arthur	...	Mary Jones
Robert Cummings	...	Joe O'Brien
Charles Coburn	...	John P. Merrick
Edmund Gwenn	...	Hooper
Spring Byington	...	Elizabeth Ellis
S.Z. Sakall	...	George - Merrick's Butler
William Demarest	...	First Detective
Walter Kingsford	...	Mr. Allison
Montagu Love	...	Harrison
Richard Carle	...	Oliver
Charles Waldron	...	Needles
Edwin Maxwell	...	Withers
Edward McNamara	...	Police Desk Sergeant
Robert Emmett Keane	...	Tom Higgins
Florence Bates	...	Store Shopper

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #6464) | USA:TV-G (TV rating) | Canada:PG (Ontario) | Finland:S | Sweden:Btl | UK:U

Company:

Frank Ross-Norma Krasna Inc.

Trivia:

This film is being preserved by the UCLA Film & Television Archive with funding from the AFI/NEA Preservation Grants.

Goofs:

During the beach scene, the people in the background change completely from shot to shot. However, the crowd in the opening shot of the beach scene is the same as the one in the final shot.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Devil and Mr. Jones (1975)

Soundtrack:

For He's a Jolly Good Fellow

A Sweet, Sharp, Sophisticated Comedy!

I saw "The Devil and Miss Jones" two nights ago. What a joy Jean Arthur was to watch. Truly, the teaming of Charles Coburn and Jean Arthur needs to be celebrated. It has been ignored for too long! They play off each other as Powell and Loy, Laurel and Hardy, and Tracy and Hepburn did. Jean Arthur was never lovelier (as a brunette!). Robert Cummings never had a showier role nor one in which he displayed bite and a strong, leading-man presence. The script accurately conveys the times in which it was written. The scenes of how it was for people in large cities to work and entertain themselves during the Depression is priceless in its accuracy, a time capsule showing future Americans the Great Depression and its legacy. The playing of Arthur, Coburn, Cummings, and Spring Byington as well as the editing give "The Devil and Miss Jones" a playful, lyrical, yet sassy tone. A true rarity for a film with this type of plot to pull off yet it did, brilliantly. This film deserves greater critical and public reevaluation.