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There's a MAN WANTED to become private secretary for a powerful female editor. Once found, will they be able to keep their minds strictly on business?

Here is another example of a wonderful pre-Code comedy from Warner Brothers which has slipped under the radar and is undeservedly obsolete. The casting, acting, script & production values are all first rate. The humor is grownup & intelligent, and does not treat its viewers like insensitive Neanderthals.

Scintillating & sly, Kay Francis is perfect in the role of a worldly woman with a wide-open marriage. Her frankness & grace in dealing with her husband's casual adulteries is most fetching - as well as making her character very human. As beautiful as she was talented, it is a shame that this lovely lady no longer receives the recognition she's due.

Matching her every step of the way, David Manners exudes gentle masculinity as her new office employee. Slowly falling in love, he must carefully control himself & not overstep the bounds of propriety. Mr. Manners gives another in a series of excellent performances. Quiet & unassuming, he could always be counted on for a solid contribution to any film. He left Hollywood for a more private life in 1936, never to return to movies, which probably accounts for his near anonymity today. (He died in 1998, at the age of 97.)

Giving very firm support are Una Merkel as Manners' fierce, funny little fiancée; and Andy Devine as his rough edged, good natured roommate.

Elizabeth Patterson makes the most of her small role as Miss Francis' original, somewhat eccentric, secretary; Edward Van Sloan (DRACULA's Van Helsing) has only a few moments as a store manager who knows what it takes to sell rowing machines to the ladies.

Although he's still listed in the credits, the scenes involving British character actor Robert Greig have been deleted. Pity...

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.

The film shows up periodically, and without fanfare, on Turner Classic Movies every now and then when they run early a.m. fests of Kay Francis movies. Yes, it is old, and yes, some of it is outdated, but it also contains some very nice moments. Despite its antiquity, it does succeed in capturing the pain of a man who is deeply in love with a woman he knows he can never have nor even approach. That may sound silly to some readers today, since we now live in an age where men routinely proposition married women (both on and off screen), but frankly, it works. The film is clearly pre-Code---once the Code was installed, any man glancing at a married woman was depicted as a slimy villain. But real life isn't lived in such black and white absolutes, and that is why this undeservedly obscure little film holds up yet today.

Moderately amusing romantic comedy, stolen by a dazzling Kay Francis. Her commanding presence just about out-shines everything else, including even the scene-stealing Merkel. The story's about upper-class folks trying to get their love life sorted out. Manners is drawn to Francis, but she's married to Thompson who philanders with Dodd, while an aggressive Merkel chases after Manners as a brawny Devine looks on. Worse, they've only got an hour to sort things out. The B-flick's well mounted with a good look at early 30's high fashion. There's some good snappy dialogue, and even though infidelity is treated casually, there's not much pre-Code innuendo. Note too how the script elevates Francis as the competent chief executive of a large firm. In fact, there's something of a subtle feminist thread running through the screenplay. In my book, the movie's main drawback lies with Dieterle's pedestrian direction that lacks the spark needed to blend the parts into a memorable whole.. Anyway, for fans of Francis, it's a showcase, showing again why she's become a cult legend.

"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.