The first of a double bill of films about the 'career woman' (or 'career girl' as they say in this film) that I'm reviewing today (next up is 'A New Kind of Love')- a strange creature dedicated to their job (and usually very successful) but has neglected all romance. Don't worry, in these films we will see her brought back to her real goal in life: finding a man!
Surprisingly, this was the least sexist of the two, despite being made twenty five years prior to 'A New Kind of Love'. Helen Murphy (Constance Bennett) runs 'Dorothy Madison Services'- a service for the wealthy that varies from getting clients' socks darned to providing business advice. She is successful but very stressed- if only a nice man would come along who could actually look after himself!
Enter newbie inventor Robert Wade (Vincent Price, in his first film role), who Helen meets on a boat; the doesn't like bossy women so Helen keeps quiet about her job. She raves to her colleague (Helen Broderick) about this wonderful man, only to find out that he's the nephew of one of their clients, and so Helen must keep up the charade. Robert is also pursued by another woman- the genuinely useless Audrey (Joy Hodges), the daughter of another client.
There are some funny moments, such as when Helen puts on a shrill domineering voice when she offers business advice in a phone call to Robert, and Audrey provides some light relief. Helen isn't also characterised in the usual 'career woman' way; she's pretty, funny and doesn't hate men- which kind of highlights the sexism in that the only 'objectionable' thing about her is that she has a career. As played by Vincent Price, Robert is more of a mild-mannered dope than the kind of man who would forcibly chain her to the kitchen sink. He fares very well in light comedy- funnily enough there's a moment in the film where he pretends to have an episode of madness to convince Audrey that it runs in his family in a bid to stop her fawning over him and getting in his way. Bennett seems to naturally fit the genre of light romantic comedy and makes for a very likeable heroine; she doesn't play the usual trope of the 'career woman' (unattractive, man-hating, uptight) and it's a shame the film didn't buck the trend.
Considering its central message and social attitudes are completely alien to a modern audience (rather than running people's lives and making a successful career out of it, much better for a woman to run her man-child husband's life!), it's probably only worth watching just for the novelty of seeing Vincent Price in his first screen role (straight in at the deep end seeing as he's a co-lead!) and in a romantic screwball comedy (though it's not exactly top drawer).