Dvd/150: WIFE VERSUS SECRETARY (Clarence Brown, 1936)

By the mid-1930s the prohibitive production code made it difficult for Jean Harlow to play the tart-with-a-heart roles that made her famous so MGM subverted her persona in WIFE VERSUS SECRETARY - accused by others of being a homewrecker she is in fact just a devoted secretary.

Magazine publisher Clark Gable is happily married to Myrna Loy but, when she hears rumours of his relationship with secretary Harlow, Loy's suspicions overtake her.  This is not helped when Harlow secretly flies with Gable to Havana suddenly but we know it's all innocent as he is secretly trying to acquire a newspaper and only Harlow knows the plan.

Although billed as a comedy drama, director Clarence Brown concentrates more on the marital drama with Harlow standing glumly by, realizing her actual feelings for her boss when boyfriend James Stewart suggests she give up her job when they get married.

Shelf or charity shop?  As it's on the same disc as CHINA SEAS I will hang on to this one...

Dvd/150: LIBELED LADY (Jack Conway, 1936)

An example of the seamless Hollywood comedies of the 1930s, LIBELED LADY features the frequently-paired sophistication of William Powell and Myrna Loy and the more blue collar style of Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow.

The situation-heavy comedy starts when newspaper editor Spencer Tracy leaves his long-suffering fiancee Jean Harlow at the altar when he learns his paper has falsely accused socialite Myrna Loy of being a homewrecker.  When she sues them for $5 million, Tracy concocts a plot with a former reporter William Powell.

If Powell marries Harlow, he can then meet and romance Loy before being 'discovered' by Harlow proving Loy is a homewrecker after all.  But the best-laid plans of mice and newspaper men...

It is a sad irony that Harlow and Powell were actually off-screen lovers but his reluctance to marry was still an issue when she suddenly died the following year.

Shelf or charity shop?  As it's on the same disc as DINNER AT EIGHT it's a keeper...