Behind Office Doors
Directed by Melville W. Brown
Written by Carey Wilson from “Private Secretary” by Alan Schultz
1931/US
RKO Radio Pictures
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
Mary Linden: Well, what a sap I’ve been!
A lackluster film with a heaping helping of sexism to boot.
Executive secretary Mary Linden (Mary Astor) is the brains behind a successful pulp and paper company. She is secretly sweet on junior executive James Duneen (Robert Ames). When her elderly employer retires she suggests James for the job. He gets it and she continues sharing her very good ideas and judgement to help him succeed. He also demonstrates that he is a complete cad with women, taking Mary for granted. This just makes Mary want him more, despite the fact that the infinitely more appealing married millionaire Ronnie Wales (Ricardo Cortez) is after her as well.
Executive secretary and bimbo employed to work with her show off their legs. Is this the most sexist pre-Code movie ever?
Let’s just say that this was one of those movies that I watched while yelling at my TV. And not in a good way. I did not enjoy watching Mary Astor suffer nor did I understand why she should. Nor is it a very good movie in any way. I watched on Amazon Prime for free. The print is terrible but the price was right. There are also several full-length versions currently on YouTube.
Mary Astor tribute
