Wife vs. Secretary

Wife vs. Secretary. 1936 MGM/Turner Entertainment.
Starring: Clark Gable, Jean Harlow, Myrna Loy, May Robson, James Stewart
Director: Clarence Brown
Available from Amazon as a single DVD or as part of the Clark Gable Signature Collection box set.

This movie was Clark Gable's fifth film appearance with Jean Harlow (they had appeared in Libeled Lady, which also came out in 1936), and the fourth time he worked with Myrna Loy. James Stewart also had one of his first memorable film roles here.

Gable is Van Stanhope, a magazine publisher celebrating a third wedding anniversary with his wife Linda (Loy), and he's given her a diamond bracelet. Van's secretary is the striking Helen "Whitey" Wilson (Harlow), who has Van's mother convinced that she will be a "temptation" to her son. Linda is not worried about it, since she trusts Van, whose relationship with Whitey is strictly business. Whitey is romantically linked with Dave (Stewart), who is also very uncomfortable with her relationship with Van (such as it is). Dave proposes to Whitey, but she refuses, preferring to throw herself into her job.

Van is planning to buy a weekly magazine from J.D. Underwood (George Barbier), which he keeps a secret from everyone except Whitey, which leads to the usual comic misunderstandings between the four main characters, as well as the expected tension between Linda and Whitey. As usual, things look bad, but those problems always resolve themselves by the end of the movie.

Wife vs. Secretary is definitely a star vehicle for Gable and company, as the plot is pretty lightweight, and variations of such would be endlessly recycled for movies and TV shows over the years.. The movie's transfer to DVD is as good as it can be for a movie made over seventy years ago, although there are definite and visable flaws that can be occasionally distracting. No matter though, as the viewer simply has to remember to watch the movie, and not watch the movie if you know what we mean. Recommended.