Nach Büroschluss (Elf Uhr 20 Mordalarm)

Big city newspaper man and light-hearted heiress should mean a screwball comedy, but this one takes a surprising turn into a murder mystery..Some snappy dialogue by Herman Mankiewicz (Dinner at Eight) and elegant production with amazing gowns by Adrian and sets by Cedric Gibbons give this picture an air of class. Clark Gable is Clark Gable in his "It Happened One Night" mode. Constance Bennett has wonderful chemistry with Gable and shows the same light comedy flair from "Topper." I kept thinking this should be better known because it's a very stylish hybrid - society murder mystery and madcap comedy.

First half hour's great as Herman J. Mankiewiecz's typewriter functions more like a Gatling gun, spewing out wisecracks, putdowns, zingers and bon mots all over the place. Then, right after the scene at the Riverview Cafe, Mank's comic energy begins to wane and the not very interesting plot and story, something to do with high society adultery and murder, takes over and director Robert Z. Leonard's lack of visual comic skills is alarmingly exposed. So, let's give it a generous C plus for the first thirty minutes and the charm and comic timing of Gable, Bennett and a couple of the subsidiary players like Stu Erwin and Billie Burke.

After Office Hours (1935)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

A hard nosed editor (Clark Gable) hires a society girl (Constance Bennett) as a reporter but he's actually using her to try and crack a story on a playboy (Stuart Erwin). The editor gets in over his head when a murder takes place and might put the girl in danger, which is even worse when he falls for her. This is certainly minor fair but it's made entertaining by the terrific performance by Gable. It's somewhat shocking to see how great he is even though the story is pretty bland and unoriginal. For the most part Gable plays the part as a fast talker and he comes off very charming in doing this. He certainly keeps the film going with his performance and almost makes the viewer forget how silly the actual story is. Bennett is also very good in her role and the two stars work well together. The film borrows some from Gable's Oscar winning role in It Happened One Night and there's also a funny scene where Gable plays Popeye. The first thirty-minutes are actually pretty involving but the second half of the movie completely falls apart when the love story is brought in. There's also some slapstick comedy that comes out of no where and really seems like a scene from another movie accidentally edited into this one. Henry Travers of It's a Wonderful Life has a small role.

"After Office Hours", directed by Robert Z. Leonard was shown as part of a Constance Bennett retrospective the other day on TCM. This 1935 film was written for the screen by Herman Mankiewicz.

The wonderful world of New York's high society and the sensational news by the tabloids of the thirties are combined in this movie to give us a fast paced comedy in which most of the comments submitted to this forum express a surprise in the turn it takes when the happy situation at the start of the film and the illicit romance being investigated by a newspaper changes into a different, and unexpected climax.

The gorgeous Constance Bennett and the handsome Clark Gable are a delight to watch in the movie. Both these actors had great chemistry, and frankly, it's a shame they weren't seen together more often. Ms. Bennett was at, perhaps, one of the best times in her career and as the society girl turned newspaper music critic, she makes quite an impression. Also, the newspaper editor portrayed by Mr. Gable is one of his best characterizations in the movies.

Also in the cast some famous faces, the luminous Billie Burke, who plays Ms. Bennett's mother is a welcome presence in any film. Stuwart Erwin, Harvey Stephens, Henry Travers, William Demarest and Margaret Dumond are seen in supporting roles.

This is an excellent movie because of the fine contributions of Constance Bennett and Clark Gable.

Clark Gable is fun as a (maybe not so) tough-guy reporter. Stuart Erwin is wasted -- fine but he deserved more -- as his subordinate. Billie Burke is as always fun. But Constance Bennett strolls away with this.

Probably 99.9% of all living beings today have never heard of Ms. Bennett. Granted, about 90% have probably never heard of Clark Gable, either, But there is something odd about Bennett's fall from grace.

She was a huge star and her performances hold up beautifully. Yet, she seems to be viewed as a blip on the radar screen of American movie history, which she really was not.

I wonder, as an example, why "Topper" is almost never shown. I saw it once and thought it a very chic and appealing screwball comedy. Heaven knows, it spawned sequels (sot of sequels) and a TV series based on it was quite popular. Are there some sort of copyright problems? This movie, in any case, has a nice, twisting plot. It's amusing, it's stylish, it has a bit of suspense. It isn't great by any means, though it surely would have been more fun before the Code -- only a year or two before it was released.

(The title is racy but seems to have little bearing on the movie itself, just as an aside.)