Great Film; Original Plot


When you have four actors with the talents or Gable, Harlow, Loy and even a very green Stewart, you would have a hard time messing up a movie. However, the plot of this film is original and well paced so even with four unknowns, I think it would have succeeded.

Gable is magazine tycoon, Van. Loy is his patient wife, Linda. Harlow plays Van's super efficient secretary, Whitey. Stewart is Whitey's impatient boyfriend, Dave. Van is so consumed with taking over a rival publication that he doesn't realize how his behavior is neglecting and hurting Linda. The rumor mill starts up about how much time he and his secretary spend together. Their relationship is strictly professional, but perception has a stronger pull than the truth. Linda starts believing the gossip and the movie does a nice job of making you see how she would, while also making it realistic that its all a mistake. Whitey loves Dave, but he is pressuring her to marry him and quit her career. She has no intention of doing any such thing.

I say this movie was original because in these kinds of films, the boss and the secretary, or at least the two biggest stars, Gable and Harlow, would wind up together. The wife is usually played as a shrew. There is one scene where it looks like they might cross the line but its nothing physical, just longing looks as they both contemplate it. Loy is anything but a shrew so the pain we feel for her is palpable. Van loves his wife and would never dream of hurting her intentionally. Unintentionally, well, that's another story.

There is a fantastic scene that should be put in a time capsule for young actresses. Linda is leaving on a steamer and Whitey goes to see her. I was expecting Whitey to tell Linda it was all a misunderstanding and that Linda should go home to Van. Instead Harlow delivers her lines with the grace of a woman who is torn between being with a man she admires and wants, but knowing she could never make him as happy as Linda. Its an amazing scene and Harlow really brings it home and actually upstages Loy a bit. I adore Myrna Loy so that was quite an accomplishment.

Wife vs. Secretary is a wonderfully acted and directed film. I wish they could make movies like this nowadays with linear plots, great acting, and spicy dialogue.

My memory foam pillow says it can't remember my face. I can tell its lying.

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Finally got around to watching this film and admittedly I don't have the greatest attention span but this kept me watching. Myrna and all the characters seemed so real, it really was so good. What wife in her right mind would want Jean Harlow around as her husband's secretary, yet Myrna did her best to be modern and understanding-until she couldn't. I love the scene you mention, I love Harlow in this. I even love James Stewart although its strange for me to see him romancing Jean in this film when I first watched him romancing Lana Turner in Ziegfeld Girl. I see a lot of Jean in early Lana.

Awesome film.

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