Gelosia

In New York, the magazine publisher Van "V.S." Stanhope (Clark Gable) and his beloved wife Linda (Myrna Loy) have been happily married for three years and are in love with each other. Van is a dynamic executive of the Stanhope Publications and works very close to his dedicated and efficient secretary Helen "Whitney" Wilson (Jean Harlow), who is a beautiful young woman engaged with Dave (James Stewart).

When Van's mother Mimi (May Robson) poisons Linda about the relationship of her son with his secretary, Linda becomes jealous of her. Whitney and Dave have an argument and she breaks with him. Meanwhile Van is secretly planning to buy a magazine owned by Underwood (George Barbier) and Whitney helps him with the strategy. When Whitney discovers that the competitor Hanson House is also disputing the magazine, she travels to Havana to help Van to close the business with Underwood. They are well- succeeded in their intent and celebrate until late night. When Linda calls Van at 2:00 PM, Whitney answers the phone call and Linda believes that Van is really having an affair with Whitney. In the end, don't look for trouble where there isn't any because if you don't find it, you'll make it.

"Wife vs. Secretary" is an adorable romantic comedy by Clarence Brown with Clark Gable, Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy in the lead roles. The intelligent screenplay is very well written, with funny situations. James Stewart in a supporting role in the beginning of his career has the final and most important line of this movie. The talented Jean Harlow passed away on the next year of cerebral edema caused by uremic poisoning, in a great loss for the cinema industry. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Ciúmes" ("Jealousy")

This is a perfect little film, absolutely well-rounded and exquisite. Beautifully scripted, intelligently directed, ebulliently acted.

Clark Gable is the successful publisher, newly married to society lady Myrna Loy who, although very modern and not jealously disposed, begins to suspect that he is carrying on an affair with his bleach-blonde secretary, Jean Harlow. As Gable's mother states, laconically of her son, "You wouldn't blame a boy for stealing a piece of candy".

All fluff, right? Light as air, unsubstantial? Of course it is, it takes masters of their craft to make this plot stick, to make the movie plain unforgettable. Gable was never better, he seems to relish every second he is on screen, and there is none of the masculine stiffness about him that his worst performances have. He is a joy to watch with the always delightful Loy, their scenes together bristle and self-combust, and they are a really sweet, engaging couple. Loy has to be the most sophisticated creature ever to be filmed, she is SO cool and contemporary ("I'm the best, aren't I?", she says with just the slightest sardonic hint.) Harlow isn't given as much to work with, and she has to downplay her sassy sexiness in order not to tip the scales. But she is still almost all Harlow, and they go as far as they possibly could under the Production Code. The scene with Harlow and Gable in the Havana hotel room is all about sex, as we are left in no doubt.

So, watch it and love it. It is as perfect a piece of 30's film-making as you are likely to see.

All of the MGM machinery is in place to make this slight little story into an enjoyable bit of entertainment. Three of the studio's biggest and most endearing stars headline the film. Gable plays a hotshot businessman who has a beautiful, affectionate wife (Loy) at home and a beautiful, dutiful secretary (Harlow) at the office. Loy has no reason to feel threatened by the curvy, good-natured Harlow until Gable's mother (Robson) plants the seeds of doubt in her mind. Once her friends chime in as well and Gable and Harlow are in the midst of a major, hush-hush deal, she begins to think that perhaps she is the odd man out. Meanwhile, (a very young) Stewart waits patiently for Harlow to give up her career and marry him. The title comes true in one, fairly-considerate, verbal sparring match near the end. Gable is extremely charming and offhanded in this film. He does as he pleases and doesn't care to answer to anyone or explain his behavior. Loy is also very witty and refreshingly forward-thinking for most of the movie. The couple shares a delightful on screen relationship in which a healthy sex life is clearly implied. Harlow (sporting hair a shade or two darker than when she's playing an outwardly sexual character) does an admirable job of portraying the dedicated, indispensable assistant who may really have some unexplored feelings for her boss. Though the plot is contrived and simplistic in the extreme, the stars do manage to put it over and hold interest. It's not a very realistic film, but who wanted that anyway during The Depression? It's a frothy, fun, occasionally dramatic piece of old Hollywood candy.

It's Rolls Royce MGM hitting on all eight cylinders— lavish interiors, pretty people, well- upholstered crowds, and sprightly dialog. So who can ask for more. Not me. Gable's a hard- driving top executive with a super efficient secretary (Harlow) and a loving wife at home (Loy). Trouble is, he spends all his time making deals and neglecting his patient wife. At the office he depends a lot on the fetching Harlow, slowly making wife Loy suspicious. But getting his attention is difficult since he's so wrapped up in the latest big deal. Thus, straightening things out in expected Hollywood manner makes up the narrative.

Gable's at his charming energetic best, while Harlow gets an unusual non-vampish role, and Loy is winning in the sympathetic wifely part. Together, their characters are uniformly likable, unusual for what may be a romantic triangle. It's not hard seeing why Gable made six films with the star-crossed Harlow. There's real chemistry at work between them. Also, a boyish Jimmy Stewart turns up in an early supporting role as Harlow's sometimes swain. Not surprising for the 30's, the business world is portrayed as tricky, at best.

Anyway, director Brown keeps things moving in smooth fashion, so all the talk seldom palls. Overall, it's a slickly entertaining 90-minutes featuring three legends of their time and our own.

I treasure this film for Jean Harlow's performance, capped by a magnificent, simple line reading: "You are a fool. For which I am grateful."

She had amazing range for an actress who died at 26. Howard Hughes presented her in "Hell's Angels" (1930) as an amoral menace to civilization. (When she slips into "something comfortable" she actually puts on clothes.) It would be charitable to call her appearance in that picture acting. Yet within a couple of years she could dominate the screen by the force of genuine talent.

Her starring career blazed briefly, but with almost no wasted roles. Here she gets to behave like a normal working class woman--not a débutante, nor a tenement dweller, nor a criminal's moll, nor a voracious mantrap, nor a comic banshee, nor an adventuress working the China Seas or Malay docksides.

Clark Gable and Myrna Loy have more customary roles. A part this quiet remains a rarity for the winsome, brilliant, and doomed Harlow.