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Beauty and the Boss
An ultra-efficient Plain Jane secretary blossoms when she accompanies her boss on a business trip to Paris.
Release : | 1932 |
Rating : | 6.9 |
Studio : | Warner Bros. Pictures, The Vitaphone Corporation, |
Crew : | Art Direction, Assistant Camera, |
Cast : | Marian Marsh David Manners Warren William Charles Butterworth Frederick Kerr |
Genre : | Comedy Romance |
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Reviews
Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,
Very good movie overall, highly recommended. Most of the negative reviews don't have any merit and are all pollitically based. Give this movie a chance at least, and it might give you a different perspective.
I love pretty much anything with Warren William but had never seen anything with Marian Marsh before. She is delightful. It's a fun romp that doesn't tax the brain with over complicated plot lines but isn't a boring romance either. Predictable yes but when they do it with such sparkle and style - who cares.
Clearly a pun on "Beauty and the Beast".... this early talkie is so under-rated. It's just before the Hays code started being enforced, and the clever banter gets quite saucy. Warren William (from the Lone Wolf films) is the all-business, hardworking company president, who has no time for the flirtations of his secretaries, first Mary Doran, then Marian Marsh. It turns into a kind of competition between the two girls, after a confrontation. Doran is "Ollie", who uses her wit, wiles, and low-cut dresses to try to lure in the Baron. Susie (Marsh) tries to take the high road at first, but sees how easy it is to make men swoon with Ollie's naughty girlie ways. Charles Butterworth is here as the office manager, and has all the best lines. That dry, sarcastic wit, which he brought from his vaudeville days, usually muttered under his breath. He was only 36 in this film, but wow, he always looked old as dirt. Frederick Kerr is the Baron's sidekick, but doesn't really add much to the story. It's fun being an observer, to see who will "win" the prize. Story by Hungarian Ladislas Fodor, and the foreign currency and other words creep into the conversation. Directed by Roy Del Ruth, who had been around since the early days of silents, and successfully moved into talkies. This one is a lot of fun. Doesn't seem to have been shown often on TCM, with only 300 votes. Warner packed a lot into 66 minutes, and it moves right along. Recommended ! Catch it if you can. Warner Brother archives HAS released this on DVD...
Originally entitled The Church Mouse in New York, London, and Paris where it began as a play by Ladislas Fodor, Beauty And The Boss is an average comedy with a few good laughs about a wealthy man who can't decide whether he wants efficiency or eye candy as female employees. The play ran a respectable 164 performances on Broadway in the 1931-32 season for the Depression and the most prominent name in the cast was that of Ruth Gordon.Warren William is the French industrial tycoon with this terrible dilemma and when he finds he can't concentrate on his business because he finds stenographer Mary Doran too attractive he fires Doran. There won't be that problem with Marian Marsh however who dresses down and dowdy so much that she's called a church mouse. But she's set her cap for William and she'll do whatever it takes to nail him.Rounding out this European comedy of manners is David Manners as William's fun loving brother, they're much like the Larrabee brothers in Sabrina. There's also Frederic Kerr as a count with a roving eye and the ever droll Charles Butterworth who for me is always a pleasure to watch in anything. The material cast has to work with is pretty thin, but they rise to the occasion and while Beauty And The Boss will never be rated as one of the great comedies of the Thirties it will give a few good laughs to anyone who views it.
Warren William and Marian Marsh sparkle in this delicious Vitaphone production. Ms. Marsh handles the role of a dowdy but wise secretary with great aplomb, she's delightful! William (the star with two first names) is charming as the playboy baron with an amorous secretary on every phone line. Charles Butterworth adds to the fun with his usual hijinks. This one's a keeper!