The Devil and Miss Jones (1941)

The Devil and Miss Jones
Directed by Sam Wood
Written by Norman Krasna
1941/US
Frank Ross-Norman Krasna Inc.
First viewing/Olive Films DVD

[box] Mary Jones: You… Benedict Arnold in sheep’s clothing![/box]

What a terrific movie!

J.P. Merrick (Charles Coburn) is The Richest Man in the World.  He is one of those people that thinks everyone else is an idiot and likes to mete out “divine justice” to selected idiots. One day, a newspaper headline blares that workers at Neely’s department store hung him in effigy.  Merrick, who shuns publicity of any kind, decides to ferret out the agitators by posing as a new salesman in the shoe department.

Once there, he gets a rude awakening.  Turns out the “idiots” don’t treat him quite the same when he is low man on the totem pole.  On the bright side, salesgirl Mary Jones (Jean Arthur) takes the new guy under her wing and introduces him to Elizabeth (Spring Byington) a spinster of about his age.  Things get complicated when it turns out Mary’s boyfriend (Robert Cummings) is the ringleader who is trying to organize the workers.  With Edmund Gwenn as the obnoxious department supervisor.

I had been looking forward to seeing this one, which had been unavailable for many years, and was so pleased that it didn’t disappoint.  Charles Coburn, who is actually the lead, is simply wonderful.  This is great comic acting.  Jean Arthur is also great.  The script is intelligent and funny. It’s fun to follow the transformation of a character and here this is accomplished with great wit and a minimum of sentiment.  Warmly recommended.

Charles Coburn was nominated for an Academy Award as Best Supporting Actor for his performance here and Norman Krasna was nominated for his screenplay.

Clip – Charles Coburn meets the boss from hell (Edmund Gwenn)