Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Pluskylang Great Film overall

Majorthebys Charming and brutal

ChicRawIdol A brilliant film that helped define a genre

C. Carroll Adams When "Wife vs Secretary" was released in 1936 for some reason my parents did not consider this appropriate for their 4 year-old boy to attend. In 1948 a few days after starting university at NYU, I finally managed to see the film at a Greenwich Village revival theater. By then I had become a huge fan of both Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy. I also had a soft spot for May Robson, who was so much like my actual grandmother.Bottom line is that I am a fan of the top six credited performers, as well as director Clarence Brown. James Stewart was just getting started as a movie actor. George Barbier made a lot of movies for Warners and was especially effective as "Dr. Bradley" in "The Man Who Came To Dinner" We first meet Van (Gable) and Linda (Loy) the morning of their 3rd anniversary in their luxury 2 story apartment. Later we meet Whitey (Harlow) personal secretary to Van, the CEO of a prestige magazine publishing firm.Van decides to expand his business and hold on to advertisers his firm needs to absorb a publisher of less expensive magazines. This must be investigated in complete secrecy, so Van depends heavily on Whitey's discretion, leaving details of the necessary accounting to her.During his anniversary party Van calls Whitey at the home she shares with her parents as they are eating dinner with Dave (Stewart) her boy friend/fiancé. He throws a tantrum because she decided her job is more important than going to a play with him.Perhaps I am prejudice, but I fail to understand why Whitey would have ever been interested in Dave. Stewart plays Dave as uneducated and non sophisticated. Harlow plays Whitey as a sensible and attractive woman who wants to be a business success while remaining ethical.At first Linda bends over backwards to have faith in Van, despite the warning from Van's mother Mimi (Robson) that men can be "naughty boys" and "Van his like his father". To keep the negotiations for the purchase of Underwood's (Barbier) magazine empire a secret, Van lies to Linda that he spent an afternoon at his club instead of admitting he had been driven to Underwood's estate accompanied by Whitey.Later, as the deal was closing, Van had to attend a convention in Havana, for private time with Underwood. He needs Whitey to fly to help type the contracts, although Van had not allowed Linda to make the trip.Whitey answered the phone in Van's Havana hotel suite when Linda called. Linda decides to separate from Van.In the closing reel Whitey confronts Linda and makes it clear that should Van ever become single, she wants him, yet she encourages Linda to reconsider.While before the fade-out Linda has returned to Van, who still had no clue Whitey had any romantic interest in him, it is far less clear what became of Dave and Whitey. I was 16 the first time I saw a revival of Wife vs Secretary in 1948, by which time I had seen Stewart in many films and had mourned to death of Harlow. My first reaction was that while Harlow should support a more mature and sophisticated Stewart, at the end of this film Whitey would be an idiot to waste another minute on a whiner like Dave.Wife vs Secretary remains one of my favorite films of 1936. I pull out my DVD and watch it ever 6 months of so and enjoy it every time!

lugonian WIFE VS. SECRETARY (Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, 1936), directed by Clarence Brown, with title promising loud and sassy comedy, is actually a somber story by Faith Baldwin featuring a top-notch cast of Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, and a young James Stewart shortly before reaching star status himself. Harlow, who earlier encountered a "wife vs. secretary" situation of her own in RED-HEADED WOMAN (1932) opposite Chester Morris, is the secretary again. No longer the vulgar, sex-starved, immoral type from that pre-code era, but resolved, soft-spoken, and highly efficient. With the screenplay by Norman Krasna, Alice Duer Miller and John Lee Mahin, the film itself comes across as not highly original in premise but something slightly ahead of its time as well as better scripted than others bearing a similar theme.The introduction to the central characters starts with the boss. He's Van Stanhope (Clark Gable), a happily married man of three years with an attractive wife, Linda (Myrna Loy), living in a luxurious New York City Park Avenue apartment equipped with servants and expensive furnishings. A magazine publisher of his very own business, Stanhope Publications, Van has an attractive secretary, Helen "Whitey" Wilson (Jean Harlow), who affectionately addresses him as "Dear." A middle-class girl living with her brother and his wife (William Newell and Margaret Irving), Whitey is also engaged to Dave (James Stewart), an ambitious $75 a week working man who wants her to quit working after they get married. Upon her initial meeting with Whitey during an office visit with Linda, Van's mother, Mimi (May Robson), with a suspicious nature based on her own marital experience, advises the non-jealous Linda to have Van dismiss his secretary, but overlooks it, believing their partnership is only platonic. After hearing similar accusations from her society friends (Marjorie Gateson and Gloria Holden) attending her dinner function, and observing Van and Whitey ice skating together at a company party as she sits in the grandstand suffering from a cold, Linda slowly starts believing these accusations to be true. Even Dave, who patiently awaits for Whitey in his car while she works overtime, begins to have his doubts, causing the engagement to be broken. As Van gets called off for an important business deal in Havana, Cuba, Linda eagerly awaits his telephone call that never comes. She finally makes the call herself, connecting to his hotel room at 2 a.m., only to be surprised that it's Whitey, not Van, who answers the phone.Initially a disappointment for anyone expecting a retread of RED-HEADED WOMAN or a wild and crazy farce as Harlow and Loy's second and final union in LIBELED LADY (1936), WIFE VS. SECRETARY is actually quite effective in the way the actors present themselves: Gable the serious-minded businessman who loves his wife ("If you want to keep a man honest, never call him a liar") while looking upon his secretary simply as his loyal assistant; Loy, the highly sophisticated and refined type wearing fur coats, outlandish gowns and even a classy wardrobe at the breakfast table, as the trusting wife. Breaking away from stereotypical feuds between in-laws, wife and mother-in-law get along quite favorably. Resorting to tears at one point, wife's crying is not enacted in the usual outbursts and screeching in the Carole Lombard or later Lucille Ball manner, and thankfully so. Harlow's Whitey is serious-minded and hard-working, but because of her attractiveness and relationship with her employer, falls victim to accusations for which she is innocent. Whitey's confrontation with the wife while on the verge of leaving her husband concludes with her saying, "You're a fool, for which I am grateful." The familiarity of the James Stewart persona is quite evident here, even at this point of his early career. Regardless of he using the male ego reflection of he "wanting to wear the pants," his character is soft-spoken, patient and caring in spite of playing second fiddle to his girlfriend's job. Stewart's two extended scenes with Harlow as they converse late at night while seated in his car gives him worthy attention from its viewers. Director Clarence Brown keeps the leisurely pace moving at 88 minutes. Under less capable direction, WIFE VS. SECRETARY wouldn't have been as interesting with its result. Of its three, or four central characters, it's Harlow who comes out best. Other members of the cast include George Barbier, Hobart Cavanaugh and Gilbert Emery.Seldom seen and revived until cable television came along, WIFE VS. SECREtARY finally turned up on Turner Network Television before finding its place on Turner Classic Movies. Distributed to home video in the 1990s, WIFE VS. SECRETARY is also available on DVD. (*** steno-pads)

vincentlynch-moonoi I thought this was a very good film, mature for 1936, and one of the few films I have seen with Jean Harlow where she didn't play some version of the blonde bombshell, but rather played a "real" human being. All of the major here are played with a subtle maturity that makes this drama seem more like a mid-40s film, rather than a mid-30s film. Clark Gable's demeanor in the film is also quite different from his typical bravado. He plays it straight as a businessman who has a wonderful and beautiful secretary who is just that -- a wonderful secretary. And, as always, Myrna Loy is superb as the wife who may have been cheated on. And that is the crux of the plot -- an innocent business relationship that is misinterpreted by many, leading to the potential of divorce. Jimmy Stewart is still a couple of years away from the big time here, although he is more mature than in a few of his later films...although this is only a supporting role. May Robson, playing Gable's mother, is one of those character actresses to cherish, even though you may not recognize her name.This is a solid story that I highly recommend.

MartinHafer IMDb mentions something interesting that you'll be able to see for yourself if you see the DVD for this film. Included as one of the extras is the short "The Public Pays" and if you look carefully, you'll see the same set used in both films."Wife Vs. Secretary" begins with Clark Gable's character being woken up by the butler. You'll then notice that this amazingly happily married couple sleeps in separate bedrooms--a bizarre convention that is there due to the Production Code of 1934 that would not allow a married couple in the same bed at the same time! To comply, couples either slept in separate beds or separate bedrooms! It's hard to imagine a happily married couple like this with such living arrangements, but this is Post-Code Hollywood! Considering the butler and maid, the palatial apartment and their own private elevator, it's obvious the couple (Gable and Myrna Loy) are incredibly wealthy and successful. I loved how when Gable, the big boss, came back to work after a vacation with Loy he's greeted by his staff--including one who says "Good morning, B.S.!".You soon see that Gable is ably assisted by his secretary (Jean Harlow) and she manages his busy life very well. This is a very interesting role for Harlow and is very, very different from her usual role playing a 'Dame'--an earthy and rather unsophisticated girl. Here, she is efficient and a shadow of her usual earthy self and is a bit of a stretch.Unfortunately, while Gable is a very hard-working and loyal husband and the marriage rock-solid, problems develop. There are lots of wagging tongues that keep making accusations and insinuations--many of which Loy overhears. These gossips and nosy butt-heads keep pointing out how Harlow is and how it would only be natural if Gable has an affair with her. After hearing this repeatedly, Loy unfortunately starts to listen. And, when she starts looking for evidence of an affair, little innocent things begin to look not so innocent. As a result, the marriage starts to fail. Gable's only crime was taking the idle gossip a bit too lightly and perhaps working too hard--and perhaps taking the situation too lightly when he and the secretary begins to spend too much time together. Even if he was a bit unwise, you feel sorry for the guy--especially when it gets so bad that Loy wants a divorce! And, frankly, I could see how many good marriages might be destroyed by the wagging tongues of supposedly well-meaning 'friends' as well as husbands who don't think of how their actions appear to others.Overall, an extremely well-made movie with top acting, a very good script (with one exception--see below) and of all the actors, the one who came off best was Harlow--with a different sort of performance that was a notch better than usual.This film has an interesting point to make, but at other times it seems desperately old fashioned. In particular, when May Robson supposedly gives some sage advice, she tells Loy that you can't be angry at men for having affairs--"they're all like little boys". Wow. What an idiotic thing to say.