Wife vs. Secretary (1936)

Wife vs. Secretary (1936)

starring Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy

directed by Clarence Brown

88 minutes

Van Stanhope (Clark Gable), in part due to a series of boneheaded decisions (of his own) and in part fue to things his mother tells her daughter-in-law, leads Linda (Myrna Loy), said daughter-in-law, to believe that he is having an affair with Whitey (Jean Harlow), his secretary. Linda tries to be understanding but eventually it gets to be too much and even though there isn't anything romantic going on between her husband and his secretary she starts to think very seriously about asking for a divorce.

Thoughts

I was a bit surprised by the ending. It ended how I expected it would but it wasn't as explosive an ending as I expected it to be.

This movie is a good mix of comedy and drama. I think it handled both quite well. I realize that this isn't a glowing endorsement but I enjoyed this movie even though it didn't amaze me.

Notes

The only other movie in which Clark Gable has appeared that I have seen recently is It Happened One Night (1934). I saw both Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy fairly recently in Libeled Lady (1936). James Stewart was also in this movie.

The story for this movie was adapted from a short story written by Faith Baldwin. The screenplay was written by Norman Krasna, John Lee Mahin, and Alice Duer Miller.

This is the first movie that I have seen that was directed by Clarence Brown.