Female

This is a very strange film. On one hand, it's very much a so-called "Pre-Code" film because it was made before the new and tougher Production Code. As such, the film is rather frank about sex and seems amoral through the first half. Ruth Chatterton's very liberated character is all business by day, but by night she wants her male employees to service her like stud bulls!! Then, if they fall in love with her, they are cast aside and transferred to another branch of the company. However, it's also like a Post-Code movie in the second half because it tries to completely undo the first half of the film--and even goes so far as to say that it's NOT a woman's place to be running any business! Chatterton, uncharacteristically, seems to agree with this by the time the movie ends!! It's like a case of amnesia or multiple personality!! This inconsistency really helped to undo the movie for me. Had they kept Chatterton cold and sexually charged throughout the film, it really would have made more sense and been more salacious--something that you really expect in the most extreme Pre-Code films. As is, parts are enjoyable and parts are really dull and conventional. An interesting but far from perfect film. How anyone can give this rather ordinary film a score of 10 is just bizarre.

Female (1933)

Smart, fast, witty, daring, fresh, impressive. A great little movie (just an hour long) with such a swirling series of events, and such great acting, you hardly know it's over. The filming is really tight and modern, the writing is sharp, and the leading role, the sexually liberated executive woman played by Ruth Chatterton, is spot on perfect. When George Brent appears (after half an hour), he matches her in a subtle, convincing performance that shows why, after having made twenty films already, he still had his career ahead of him. Chatterton, by contrast, made few films later, which is our loss.

The astonishing thing about the plot, of course, is how racy it is. Even today, with no holds barred (just some letters in a rating system), to have a leading woman sleep around with every handsome young man she wants, without any down side (no backstabbing, no violence, no disease, no remorse, nothing at all) is bold. These days, of course, she'd be a poster child against sexual harassment on the workplace.

But really the movie is about strength, and romance, and is remarkably modern and alive. The director is Michael Curtiz, who made such a huge number of films some of the gems like this one get lost. Some of his other gems, of course, are not lost at all (like, uh, Casablanca or Mildred Pierce). Give this its due. Worth every frame.

This comedy should be a pre-code document, just as the code was about to be imposed. The sexual conduct of Ruth Chatterton's character is mind blowing in this 1933 flick. Reminded me of Demi Moore in "Disclosure" with a major difference, Ruth Chatterton devours her minions not because she is some kind of monster but as simple mater of fact. h inherited a man's role and she loves it. The last few minutes of "Female" are a forced betrayal of the intention and the morality tale becomes an ominous warning sign for all entrepreneurial females. So blunt! Inspite of the ending this is a gem that should be seen. I guarantee you it will leave you open mouthed. Ruth Chatterton is not just amazingly modern in her upper class Mae Westish part but her performance is truly superb

This is a wonderful movie! The Art Deco sets are great - especially Miss Drake's house. (High up in the entry hall there is a balcony with a live organist!). Here are some facts: The assembly line for the "Drake" automobile is actually footage of the assembly line for the 1932 Plymouth. That beautiful town car she travels in is a Cord L-29 (as it pulls away listen to that beautiful whine of the front-wheel-drive transmission). George Brent drive a 1929 Packard. (Guess my obsession!)

Alison Drake (Ruth Chatterton) is the owner and CEO of the Drake auto company. She is strictly business at work, but has an eye for the handsome men among her employees. They usually want to talk about some idea that they have pertaining to the company, she acts interested in their idea and invites them for dinner at her house, and she then loves them and leaves them as in a one night stand. The next day they think the two of them are an item. They find out otherwise when they are transferred to the Montreal office. Alison proves, through her actions in the first half of the film, that she can be as ruthless in business and as carnivorous in sexual conquests as any man.

But then she meets HIM - Jim Thorne (George Brent). They meet at a shooting gallery one night when she is looking for somebody to like her for herself - He does. But he also thinks she is a pick up AND he has traditional values. He won't allow himself to be used and he won't use others. She finds herself caring that he doesn't care, and she has an opportunity to see a lot of him as he turns out to be the hot shot auto designer to whom her company has given a two year contract.

This film benefits from the fact that Brent and Chatterton were married when they made this, and their chemistry shines through. It also benefits from some great character actors including Ruth Donnelly, usually full of sass, acting demure here, strangely enough. She is pursued by Pettigrew (Ferdinand Gottschalk), Alison Drake's personal assistant who at age 75 is elf-like enough that no credible sexual link between them could possibly exist. He is a wise and yet mischievous presence. Also note that this film, a B effort for Warner's, acts as a running ad for other Warner's films with Cagney's "Picture Snatcher" being called out by name and the film's soundtrack consisting of Warren and Dubin songs written for the Busby Berkeley musicals of this same year.

This film was initially a troubled production and ultimately had three directors - William Dieterle, who became ill after nine days, then William Wellman, and ultimately Michael Curtiz, who was tasked with reshooting what Jack Warner considered a weak film. Happy with the final product, and with the speed with which Curtiz reshot the film, Jack Warner gave Curtiz sole director's credit.

The basic change in Alison's character did not spare "Female" when it came to the Production Code Era which began in 1934. Head censor Joe Breen refused to allow it to be shown calling it "A cheap low-tone picture with lots of double meaning, wise-cracks, and no little filth which they think is funny." Usually such words from Joe Breen are a ringing endorsement, and that is the case in this instance.