She Married Her Boss (1935)

She Married Her Boss is one of those films where the title says it all, no need for any elaboration. Of course the bride is Claudette Colbert who's been crushing out on boss Melvyn Douglas for years.But before she's a bride Claudette is a secretary and a most efficient one at that. She's got the business well organized, but Douglas's home is something of a shambles with spoiled brat of a daughter Edith Fellows ruling the roost and some crooked household help ripping him off.So it's a business arrangement that Douglas has in mind when he marries Colbert. But he's slow on the uptake to realize that Colbert has romance in mind. Playboy Michael Bartlett is not slow however and he's got a nice singing voice to go with some oily charm.Colbert and Douglas get some nice support from folks like Raymond Walburn as the new butler who gets tanked with Douglas, Katharine Alexander as Douglas's snooty sister and Jean Dixon doing the Eve Arden part before Eve Arden was around.Gregory LaCava directed She Married Her Boss and we're certainly not seeing a director's cut. Harry Cohn's editors at Columbia Pictures butchered this one, the film ends rather abruptly though in truth you know where it all is going. And people who've had loved ones killed by drunk drivers won't find Raymond Walburn careening drunkenly through the streets behind the wheel all that funny.Still the stars and the planets do shine in She Married Her Boss.

This film is Claudette Colbert's. She is terrific and it looks like the film was written to showcase her talents--and she was a heck of an actress. On the other hand, the male lead (Melvin Douglas) plays such a one-dimensional character that he is tough to like. It really looks as if the writers just didn't bother to write his part with any depth or care. As a result, Colbert comes off like an angel and Douglas comes off as a complete putz. Had this difference not been so extreme and his character a been written a bit more believably, the film would have no doubt become a classic.Colbert plays the brilliant and indispensable secretary to the head of a department store owned by Douglas. However, despite Douglas having lots of money, his home life is a mess. He's a widower, his young daughter is a beastly little brat and his sister (who lives with them) is a bitter old hen who does much to make the home a mess. But, because he's totally blind to the truth, Douglas can't figure out how to make his home work as well as his office (which is essentially run by Colbert). So in desperation, he asks Colbert to marry him and work her magic in his personal life. There are two major problems with this, however. First, while Colbert adores him, his feelings are rather indifferent. She is saddened to see that it's more a marriage of convenience than anything else (what a jerk Douglas turns out to be!). Second, the sister does everything she can to ruin the marriage. For a while at least, Douglas is blind to the truth and the marriage is a failure. Naturally, by the end, all is patched up and its happily ever after--a cliché, I know, but an ending most out there wanted to see.There are a couple elements to this film that might alarm some. The bratty child truly was in need of a lot of discipline and when Colbert administers it with a hairbrush, I am sure some out there might flinch. Well, considering the child was a pathological liar and vicious, the corporal punishment seemed justified (though perhaps not with a brush). This part didn't bother me at all--I just wanted to see Colbert then turn the brush on her sister-in-law!! Second, in the end, there was a very irresponsible scene that made drunk driving seem fun! In addition, this was just dumb and made me flinch at the notion of sober Colbert hopping a ride with a drunk driver! Still, despite these odd scenes, the film is entertaining and a great showcase for Colbert.

I've read the other comments that talked about aspects of this film that are dated, offensive, or just plain bizarre. I was rather surprised that no one brought up the movie's cringe-inducing gender stereotypes. Anyone who has seen Claudette Colbert or Melvyn Douglas in the films they made before the introduction of the Production Code(in mid-1934) would immediately recognize the heavy hand of the censors, who did their best to impose on Hollywood their narrow-minded idea of "family values." (On the basis of this film, it would appear that allowing married women to pursue a career would bring about the end of American society, but child abuse and drunk driving are just good clean fun!) Though the cast and plot look good on paper, the result is strained and uneven, as if the script had been written to Pre-Code standards and then hastily cleaned up so as not to offend the censors.Claudette Colbert plays Julia Scott, a bright, capable, and confident executive assistant at a large department store. She runs the busy office like a well-oiled machine and clearly enjoys the work. It's hard to fathom why she's spent six years mooning over her boss, Richard Barclay. The way the role of Barclay is written, the usually charming Melvyn Douglas comes off as a humorless, sexless cipher. All the more jarring, then, to hear Julia talk about her desire to give up her terrific job and marry Barclay. Without a trace of irony, she describes marriage as "a woman's REAL career." Okay, she wants to get married. But why on earth would the lovely and vivacious Julia want Barclay as a husband? Not only is he dull as ditch-water, he treats her as if she were a piece of super-efficient office equipment. Once they're married, he ridicules her for assuming the stereotypical role of housewife, despite the fact that she's set his chaotic home in order and tamed his obnoxious brat of a daughter. There's nothing in the movie to explain Barclay's eventual change of heart; apparently it's brought on by a quart of whiskey. So much for good old "family values." The film is so devoid of any hint of sexual attraction that we don't see a single cuddle or smooch--not even at the very end when it's clear that the newlyweds will finally get around to doing what newlyweds are famous for doing. Julia has more physical contact (and chemistry) with Leonard Rogers, her sweet-tempered playboy suitor, who's a lot more appealing as husband material than that cold fish Barclay.Solid performances are turned in by familiar actors in some of the secondary roles: Raymond Walburn as the perfect butler; Katherine Alexander as Barclay's drama-queen sister; Edith Fellows as the evil daughter; and especially Jean Dixon as Julia's wise-cracking, matchmaking best friend.Would love to have seen this film made just a year earlier, before the Hays Office started taking their moralizing hatchet to so many of the things that made movies of the 30s worth watching.

"She Married Her Boss" is a forgotten but alluring Columbia classic, directed by Gregory La Cava, a modest auteur with a flair for upbeat improvisation and delicate touch. La Cava's unassuming touch is less fully evident in this small heartwarming romantic comedy than the director's superior pictures like "Stage Door", "My Man Godfrey", and "Primrose Path".But "She Married Her Boss" features highly resourceful Claudette Colbert as the competent department store secretary Julia that falls for her boss Richard Barclay (Melvyn Douglas); it also has an unintentionally funny, almost surreal moment involving a department store window and mannequins. As it turns out the film is all Colbert's -- and another reminder what a lovely, divine comedienne Ms. Colbert was. The supporting cast, all wonderful, includes "She Married Her Boss" is the sort of cuddly classic that works best if you watch it with someone you love or care about.