Now Playing: "Wife Versus Secretary" (1936)

Wife Versus Secretary is one of those films in which there is a very basic, overused storyline and honestly, not a whole lot really happens and yet it's inexplicably and totally awesome.  Maybe not inexplicably because it does star Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy, a trifecta of 1930s who's who amazingness.

Let's break it down.

Gable is Van ("V.S.") Stanhope, a magazine publisher who is hardworking, focused and, as it turns out, quite creative and adept at what the public wants.  He's married to the lovely Linda, played by Loy, whom he is mad about.  The two have a healthy relationship based on mutual trust.  He has just returned from some time away from the office to find that his secretary, Whitey (Harlow) has redecorated his office. Van and Whitey have a perfect boss-assistant relationship; he treats her with a great deal of respect and trusts her to handle things for him - - she's basically his work wife - - while she assists him perfectly.  Of course since Whitey looks like Jean Harlow, and people are people, there is gossip and talk about the true nature of their relationship. The gossip filters back to Linda, who begins to worry that the sexy Whitey may be performing more than typing duties for her husband.  While away on a business trip to Havana, Van has a bit too much to drink and Whitey answers his phone for him.  It's Linda (oh nos!) and she jumps to the same conclusion that any woman would when it's 2 a.m. and another woman answers the phone in your husband's hotel room.  Van returns home to find himself locked out of Linda's bed and bath and she soon packs herself up and leaves, planning to file for divorce.  Van is heartbroken and Whitey, having just broken up with her longtime boyfriend David (played by Jimmy Stewart in an early role for MGM), realizes that her not quite so secret unrequited feelings for Van might be reciprocated.  Will Linda and Van divorce?  Will he end up with Whitey?  Is Clark Gable ever not the hottest thing on screen?  So many questions.

As fair warning, spoilers lay ahead! 

I love this movie.  It's the kind of film that MGM really excelled at during the Thirties, when everything came together. The studio had its share of stinkers and ones that were "ehhhhhh" and fortunately Wife Versus Secretary rises above that and really just works. Why?  Mainly because the stars attached to it.  Gable and Harlow had four previous film outings together (and would have one more after this one) and Gable and Loy had been paired up in three.  While this was the first film that Harlow and Loy co-starred in, they worked well together (as evidenced by their rematching in Libeled Lady.)

Ladies first.

Yes, girl

Myrna Loy has what can be a very thankless role.  She's the wife, or should I say The Wife.  You know what I mean - - a wife of these 1930s pictures that apparently has no job outside of getting their hair done, overseeing dinners and waiting for their husbands to come home.  Where do I sign up?  Between the gorgeous apartment, gorgeous attire and having a cook, driver and maid, I was really born during the wrong era (and wrong economic class.)  But I digress.  Linda could have been a simp; she could have been a spoiled socialite type that we have problems rooting for but since she's being portrayed by Myrna Loy, and because Linda isn't akin to Laura, the character Loy played in Men in White, in which she actually was a spoiled socialite,  it's easy to like or even love Linda and want her to end up with Van.  While Loy isn't able to demonstrate the witty barbs or play the somewhat straight (wo)man as she does opposite William Powell, she does still have that Myrna Loy iron butterfly thing going on and it works.  And frankly, this is really a testament to Loy and how incredible she is because Linda essentially doesn't do a whole heck of a lot.

Strictly business? 

Jean Harlow at first may seem an odd choice to play the sweet and loyal secretary; I love when she plays characters like Lil in Red Headed Woman, China Doll in China Seas or Valentine in Red Dust.  She's so damn good at playing the bad or fallen girl.  However, with the Code coming into effect (damn it) by 1935, Lil and her disciplines had to be phased out, requiring updating and changing Harlow.  While Whitey is out of character for her, she really nails the part - - so much so that as a viewer, you may not know who Gable is going to end up with and/or be torn on whether he should be with Loy or Harlow.  (Whether Van should be with Linda or Whitey is another matter entirely.)  I appreciate that while we realize that Whitey does indeed have feelings for Van, she doesn't do anything to put the moves on him or break up his marriage, not directly anyhow. In fact, other than by Linda, the gossip mongers at the office and Van's mother (more on her below), Whitey's looks are not necessarily her defining assets; she's more about her professional ability, which is refreshing. As another change of pace, Harlow is not seen in her underwear even one time.

As a die-hard Jimmy Stewart fan, I was thrilled to see him in the film, even though his part is small and very much supporting. He does what little he can with it and he does deliver the closing line of the film (see below.)

So cute

Clark Gable is really amazing in the part of Van, because I completely bought him as the happily married magazine publisher.  As he did in It Happened One Night and in Possessed, where he was playing a newspaper reporter and attorney, respectively, he sells it without question. Maybe it was due to his comfort and chemistry with both of his leading ladies or maybe it was due to his happiness with his soon to be real life leading lady, Carole Lombard, who had had recently begun seeing when the picture was being filmed but he is glowing here. I particularly loved a scene he had with Loy where she was trying to talk to him and he was kissing her cheeks, her mouth, her chin and the tip of her nose.  It was affectionate and warm and so intimate -- proving that actual nudity and sexual scenes are not necessary to rev up your audience.  I can watch his portrayal and wonder if this is the private Gable as well - - the at-home side that he shared with Lombard.  On the same side of that coin, when he's portraying Van after Linda has left him, you see the anguish and pain, as well as the distraction at work.  Gable manages to tug at my

Seriously, the cutest

heart strings, every single time (and I've seen Wife Versus Secretary multiple times.)

I love that the Loy-Gable marriage is portrayed as one of not only equals but two people who are very clearly into each other. They are tactile, they hug and kiss and you just know, neither are a slouch in the bedroom.

Are there any faults with the film?  One issue I have is relatively minor and that's the very little use that Stewart gets. Of course he was new to the studio then and he was paying his dues, while they assessed whether he had what it took to make it (he did.)  The other two issues are a bit larger.

Whitey doesn't look forty, Mimi

The first is that Mimi, Van's mother, is one of the people who put that seed of doubt in Linda's head.  She tells Linda that Van's father ran around and it's likely that Van will too.  It's his mother.  Gah!  Never mind that Van isn't running around and shows absolutely zero interest in Whitey - - she's his mother!  I'm sorry, I just can't get over that.  I don't care how close you are to your daughter-in-law, it is tacky bordering on flat out bitchy to suggest that Linda needs to be watching Whitey carefully and should suggest to Van that he needs to can his secretary.  I'm sure that will end well.  I mean, it's great that Mimi will apparently take Linda's side in just about everything but Van is her son.  Sigh.  Just as bad is Mimi's suggestion that Linda make sure that any secretary of Van's is forty years old.  Really?  Is that how you play it, Mimi?  I get it's the Thirties and forty might as well equal eighty in the delivery.  These folks do realize that a forty-year old woman might be attractive and/or sexual, just as much as someone in their twenties, right?  Anyhow . . .

You're a fool

The other thing I thought was interesting was that the film itself didn't end on a clinch between Van and Linda but on a scene with Whitey and Dave.  While I appreciate that Whitey went to see Linda before her boat set sail and delivered a really fantastic speech in which she laid it all on the table -- telling Linda that if she left, she would never get Van back because while he would never love anyone as much as he loved Linda, he wouldn't be alone for long and would look for companionship where it was easily found, i.e., Whitey and she wouldn't turn him away and upon hearing that Linda was still going to leave, told her she was a fool - - I think both Whitey and Dave were shortchanged by the ending.  Whitey leaves the office once Linda turns up, realizing that yes, indeed, she was being a fool in almost losing her husband, and finds Dave waiting for her outside (he clearly has amazing timing.) Despite acknowledging to Linda and herself less than an hour earlier that she wanted and would take Van, she goes back to Dave.

Now, there is absolutely nothing wrong with Dave.  (He is played by Jimmy Stewart after all.) He seems like a nice, kind guy although we are told very little about him.  Whitey had been wearing a ring before they broke up and he seemed fairly tolerant about her being at Van's beck and call, at least until she left him to go to the theater solo while she cut out of dinner to head to the office to retrieve something for Van to then hand deliver to his home.  Totally Team Dave on that one.

I think the film dropped the ball on having Dave say not just that he missed Whitey, when she leaves the office sans Van at the end, but suggest why they belong together.  Maybe remind her that he misses his dance partner, his Coney Island partner, his Scrabble buddy, whatever.  Maybe suggest that he's taken ice skating lessons so he can join her on the ice (an earlier point in the movie that puts Harlow and Gable on the ice together while Loy and Stewart sit it out, allowing Loy to hear gossip.)  Anything to underscore that Whitey belongs with Dave and she will be happy with him; because Whitey doesn't seem exactly relieved or happy to be back with David, maybe Harlow was playing it close to the vest but she seemed extremely understated.

In any event,  Dave gives the closing line of the film and it's a doozy.  "Don't look for trouble where there isn't any because if you don't find it, you'll make it."

Overall, I adore this film.  It's fun, it's sweet, it's affectionate and who knew that trout for breakfast was apparently a thing?

Wife Versus Secretary could have been chock full of the tropiest of tropes but, happily, it managed to avoid those pitfalls.

If you haven't seen Wife Versus Secretary, what are you waiting for?  It's available on DVD and turns up on TCM's rotation on occasion.  It may not be one of Gable's better known films but he shines in it and it's very much worth the time.  Go, go, go!

Disclosure: I watched this movie via a DVD from my own personal collection.  This DVD was purchased by me. I was neither paid nor compensated for this review. I am not too proud to take a donation though. (Just a little touch of humor.)

If Myrna isn't into it, call me, Clark. 

Now Playing: "The Caretakers" (1963)

Only I could be excited about viewing a movie on mental illness . . . and that's only because Joan Crawford was one of the stars.  Unlike Possessed (1947), in which Crawford plays the afflicted, here she plays the head nurse of a mental hospital.  But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The Caretakers is an interesting film.  I didn't love it and I didn't hate it.  It was most definitely not a feel good movie and given that it was released in 1963, it was probably considered ahead of its time.

Lorna and her hair giving the scenery and us a break 

From the start, you won't forget this is an early 1960s movie.  The opening credits are bizarre - - weird moody outlines and shadows that are scored with the-then postmodern jazzy sounds that seemed to start the majority of "serious" movies from the period.  Honestly, if I didn't know better I would think this was going to be some sort of psychological thriller or horror film.

Marion confronts Dr. MacLeod while Lorna and her hair watch

Our heroine, if you'd like to call her that, is Lorna, played by Polly Bergen, who besides sporting a really horrific 1960s bouffant 'do, is being terrorized on the streets of L.A. by the congestion, noises and daily acrimony of living in L.A.  I can relate, girl.   She makes the unwise decision of rolling into a movie theater which is playing newsreel of bombs exploding and rocket ships launching, setting her into utter hysterics.  (I do have to add that I love seeing the movie usher that parks it at the theater doors and escorts people to available seats.)  If you've seen Scream 2, you'll recognize the trope of a female climbing on stage in front of the screen and generally losing their shit, while the audience watches raptly.  Some things never change.

Will this electroshock mess up my hair? 

Anyhow, Lorna is packed up into a screeching ambulance (which I'm sure helped her mental state a lot) and sent off to the Canterbury State Hospital.  Again, because I'm me, I thoroughly guffawed at the stretchers being so low to the ground and the attendants having to bend down low in order to wheel them.  Did every hospital worker and EMT have back problems in the 60s?   Back to the film. We see Lorna's experience from her viewpoint, complete with flashing lights, closing doors and unknown people who are attempting to restrain her.  Fortunately for Lorna, Dr. MacLeod is on duty.  Not only does he possess Robert Stack's knowledgeable and soothing voice (because he is Robert Stack) but he believes that mental patients can benefit from group therapy.  In fact, he wants them treated like actual people and allowed freedoms.  Shocking!

Dr. MacLeod is met with resistance from head nurse Lucretia Terry, who believes that the mentally ill should be in straitjackets and padded rooms. She has a devoted assistant, Nurse Bracken, who fully subscribes to Lucretia's methods.  The head of the hospital, Dr. Harrington, is fairly weak and fairly useless.

Lorna meets other mental patients through the group therapy Dr. MacLeod prescribes - - a former schoolteacher, a former prostitute, a pyromaniac and a sweet young girl, among a few.  We also get some of Lorna's backstory, which involves an accident that kills her son and either creates or exacerbates her mental issues.  Unfortunately, however, the film neglects to tell us that Lorna is cured or going to be okay.  I guess we're supposed to assume she does, the same way that we never see a mentioned board meeting about the futures of Lucretia and Dr. MacLeod.

Ah, bygones. The Caretakers is not a movie meant to take seriously or learn by.  It's camp (although I don't believe anyone involved with it in 1962-1963 meant for it to be.)

Let's start with the good.

Joan with Herbert Marshall, stylish even at a mental hospital

Our Joan is her usual fabulous self in a role that is, sadly, somewhat abbreviated.  Purely shallow but she looks fantastic, from her hair to her skin to her outfits.  Check out the scene where Joan is showing her new nurses some self defense moves - - this woman was working it in that leotard.  And while Lucretia's methods were archaic, she was right about some of the patients who were downright dangerous to themselves and others.  And good on Joan for her sharp Pepsi placement in the picnic scenes.

Work it, Joan

Constance Ford, pre Another World soapiness, did a great job playing the role of brutish Nurse Bracken and Van Williams, pre The Green Hornet, was totally hot as Dr. Denning.  Robert Stack, pre the glory of Unsolved Mysteries, does well, if he does come off a bit stiff at times.  Ellen Corby, pre Grandma Walton, does what she can with her limited part as the former schoolteacher.

Janis Paige, as the slutty Marion, steals the show.  She hijacks every scene she is in and without the over the top histrionics of Polly Bergen's Lorna.  Yeah, she's your stereotypical man-hating whore but she makes the most of it and looks amazing while doing it.  I've never seen the inside of a mental hospital, and hope never to, but Marion sure could give out some

On set. Joan learned jujitsu for the role

skincare advice.

The bad . . . first, Barbara Barrie's non-speaking pyromaniac.  Barrie's performance is fine but we all just know that despite her character not speaking for seven years, she will somehow muster up the words before the end credits.

A big deal is made of Ana St. Clair being borrowed for the movie and I have to wonder why.  Why was she borrowed and why the big deal because her character basically fades into the background for much of the film and really has no purpose in everything else that's going on.  Never mind that her lighting is completely different from everyone else.  Did Ms. St. Clair show up on the wrong set?

Probably the worst scene to watch, other than the one where Lorna is very nearly gang raped (I told you this is not a feel good movie),  is the one where Lorna is given electroshock therapy.  I guess it was progressive and maybe someone at the hospital forgot to place their standard pill order but . . . yikes. No, thanks.

Lorna wants to tease her hair even higher

Which brings me to Polly Bergen.  Nothing personally against Ms. Bergen but she was clearly given the green light by director Hall Bartlett to freely chew the scenery and boy, did she.  From her opening scene throughout much of the film, she is pop eyed, sweating, screaming and ripping at her clothing.  I was exhausted just watching her and wondering why no one in the entire hospital gave her some Prozac or Librium.   I also wanted to know how her stack of hair managed to stay fairly tidy, even during these clothes-ripping, scenery shredding events because a little gust of wind can make my hair unruly.  Oh well, questions for another day.

Marion: Hell no! 

The Caretakers isn't a horrible film.  Far from it.  It can be somewhat enjoyable - -for lack of a better word - - if you don't take it or how it depicts the topic of mental illness too seriously.  I freely admit that I watched this movie solely to see Joan Crawford in one of her later roles and, Joan being Joan, delivered.  It is an interesting look at how far medical technology and the treatment of mental illness has come.  I found the ending to be rushed and a letdown, with no real conclusion for anyone other than Edna, who found her voice.  So much seemed to be happening during the film and yet nothing felt accomplished by the end.

The Caretakers had the potential to be a much better film than it was . . . it also could have been much worse.

Debut and swan song

As interesting side notes, this was one of Herbert Marshall's last films and due to his advanced age, Our Joan helped him to remember his lines and let him film all scenes in the generally more-preferred morning time so that his day would be shorter.   Actress Virginia Munshin would make her film debut playing Ruth, a bespectacled brunette patient in the borderline group and this would be her only film credit. She died in the summer of 1962, at the age of thirty, reportedly of a cerebral hemorrhage. She never saw the final film.

The Caretakers is available on DVD and TCM places it on their rotation.