Man Wanted (1932)

"Man Wanted" was made in 1932 before the Code was put in place, and it's quite entertaining, starring the beautiful Kay Francis, David Manners, Una Merkel and Elizabeth Patterson. Francis plays Lois Ames, a sophisticated, glamorous publisher who works constantly. Her old secretary (Elizabeth Patterson) won't work overtime, so she's fired. A man, Tommy Sherman (Manners) who has come to sell her something impresses her, and she offers him the secretarial job. He accepts and becomes invaluable to her, moving up in rank. All the time, he's falling in love with her. He has fiancé (Una Merkel) and Lois has a husband, Freddie. Freddie lives off of his wife, and though she loves him, she realizes that he has affairs. In one scene, Freddie is on his way to an assignation when Lois comes home unexpectedly early. Freddie goes with the moment, and they're both in the mood. Just before she gets into bed, Lois finds the other woman's hotel key. She puts in on her husband's pillow and feigns sleep.Dieterle does a good job with the pace of the film. The gender references are quite interesting. Tommy assumes the female publisher he'll be meeting will be an old hag and is surprised to see such a young, good-looking woman; nothing is made of her hiring a male secretary. One wonders, though, had she a very capable woman secretary, would she have risen to a higher position? It's something to think about.

This is a very interesting film and it's worth a look even though the main characters are mostly selfish and unlikable! Had they been more decent in how they treated others, I probably would have liked this film a lot more.This film was made during the so-called "Pre-Code" era--when Hollywood pretty much ignored the Hays Office and films featured a lot of very adult topics. Some of this was great, as films were allowed to have topics discussed that probably would have been ignored once the new Production Code was enacted in 1934. Some of this freedom was not so great, as adultery was often encouraged and nudity pervaded even supposedly "family films" (such as BEN HUR (1927) and TARZAN AND HIS MATE). MAN WANTED does not have some of the cursing or nudity of some of these films, but it does seem to glorify or excuse away infidelity--providing a false image that there are no victims in these situations, as couples just cordially agree to part when they find better partners.Kay Francis, a favorite of the more sensationalistic Pre-Code films, plays a hard-driving and seemingly asexual woman who runs a magazine that's been in her family for generations. Typical of the silly stereotype of the day, she is a woman who can't mix work and her personal life and her husband is basically a party animal who is half-intoxicated through most of the film. Into this lovely marriage comes a new secretary for Francis (David Manners). How she uses and abuses her secretaries actually bothered me a lot more than her contempt for her marriage. That's because her last secretary was fired with no notice or severance because the secretary objected to working 20 hour days again and again for Francis. Manners, it seems, has no life nor self-esteem and is more than willing to let Francis walk all over him. He is well paid for this, so Francis seems to take no notice for Manners' needs--even though it's becoming obvious that he's falling in love with her.Now here we have two problems. First, considering that Francis is a cold and selfish career woman, how could Manners fall so hard for her? Sure, he might fantasize about her sexually (she was considered quite a looker in 1932--something viewers today will probably find hard to believe), but to marry such a person?! Second, while Manners isn't married in the film, he does have a fiancée (Una Merkel) and he treats her horribly--stringing her along even though it's obvious he doesn't love her. Merkel isn't exactly a huge prize, but she's decent--as was Manners' friend played by Andy Devine. In fact, this was one of Devine's best supporting performances--coming off as less comical and goofy than usual and more just a nice and sweet person.All this ends exactly the way you'd expect--all according to formula. So there are both no likable characters and few surprises. So how does the movie STILL get a 6?! Well, the acting, directing and all were still very competent and the film is interesting to watch--keeping me focused throughout. Not a great film but a decent time-passer--just so long as you don't internalize the message that the film seems to be trying to make--that adultery ain't so bad after all!

Kay Francis rose to sudden stardom playing a vamp opposite Walter Huston in a very early Paramount talkie called "Gentlemen of the Press"(Par, 1929). By 1930 she was one of that studio's top stars. In late 1931 her three-year contract was expiring and to much surprise she jumped ship to Warner Brothers that had promised her great scripts and a huge salary. The salary was forthcoming but the scripts varied wildly from the classic "One Way Passage"(1932) to the unbelievably bland "The White Angel"(1936) a disastrous William Dieterle directed biography on Florence Nightingale. Gorgeous and charismatic Kay's first vehicle for Warners and her first with Dieterle is this marvelous adult comedy about an emancipated woman who is the boss who needs a new "male" secretary. Running only about 70 minutes this film is a witty, wonderfully directed gem. Kay and Manners are so sexy and charming in their only film together. A must for Francis fans and forgotten classic movie lovers.

Fast-paced and well directed, Man Wanted is a compact entertainment that provides a window to early 1930s attitudes on several subjects but doesn't sermonize on any of them. Kay Francis and David Manners are sufficiently colorless to be easily molded by director Dieterle, who adds interesting pictorial touches throughout. Also of great interest is Gregg Toland's remarkable cinematography. The fact that the film is somewhat hard to categorize - is it a melodrama with comic touches or a satire with occasional pathos? - indicates the cleverness of Dieterle and writers Robert Lord and Charles Kenyon. The filmmakers are anything but heavy-handed in their commentary on gender roles, leaving the audience to reach its own conclusions about thorny workplace issues that persist in the 21st century. Adding to the general delight of the film are Andy Devine and Una Merkel in unexpected roles, with Elizabeth Patterson and Edward Van Sloan also glimpsed in very different parts than those for which they are most well known. This gem, seen occasionally on TCM, is well worth your time.