The Office Wife | |
---|---|
Directed by | Lloyd Bacon |
Written by | Charles Kenyon |
Based on | The Office Wife 1930 novel by Faith Baldwin |
Starring | Dorothy Mackaill Lewis Stone Natalie Moorhead Joan Blondell Hobart Bosworth |
Cinematography | William Rees |
Edited by | George Marks |
Music by | Alois Reiser |
Production company | |
Distributed by | Warner Bros. |
Release date |
|
Running time | 59 minutes |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
The Office Wife is a 1930 American pre-Code romantic drama film directed by Lloyd Bacon, released by Warner Bros., and based on the novel of the same name by Faith Baldwin. It was the talkie debut for Joan Blondell who would become one of the major Warner Bros. stars for the following nine years. [1]
Publisher Larry Fellowes (Lewis Stone) believes that Andrews, his stenographer/secretary (played by Dale Fuller), spends more time with him and makes more decisions than a wife would for her husband. He persuades author Kate Halsey (Blanche Friderici) to write a novel based on this premise.
When Andrews learns of Larry's plans to marry Linda (Natalie Moorhead), the secretary has a nervous breakdown because she is in love with him herself. A new attractive, intelligent and efficient secretary, Anne Murdock (Dorothy Mackaill), is hired while Larry is on his honeymoon. Larry, a workaholic, begins to neglect his wife working with his secretary, and they both fall in love. Meanwhile, his wife is seeing another man (played by Brooks Benedict), with whom she falls in love.
Eventually, Larry kisses Anne while they are working together at his apartment, while Linda makes love with her young gigolo, who gives her the key to his apartment and says goodnight. Linda returns to her husband (after giving them enough time to compose themselves) and tells Larry that they should go to bed as it is very late. Anne watches as Larry goes to the bedroom with his wife and closes the door behind him. She is heartbroken and decides she will give him her resignation in the morning.[ clarification needed ][ why? ]
Linda decides to divorce Larry. Anne agrees to marry her long-time admirer Ted O'Hara after giving her resignation. On the final day of work, Anne's sister Katherine Murdock (Joan Blondell) phones the confused Larry and explains everything, bringing about a happy ending.
Cast notes:
The film survives intact, preserved by the Library of Congress. [2]
The film was released on DVD from Warner Archive made-on-demand as a double bill with Dorothy Mackaill's Party Husband .
Footlight Parade is a 1933 American musical film directed by Lloyd Bacon, with songs written by Harry Warren (music), Al Dubin (lyrics), Sammy Fain (music) and Irving Kahal (lyrics). The film's numbers were staged and choreographed by Busby Berkeley. It starred James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Ruby Keeler and Dick Powell, with featured appearances by Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee, Hugh Herbert, and Ruth Donnelly.
Blonde Crazy is a 1931 American pre-Code romantic comedy-drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring James Cagney, Joan Blondell, Noel Francis, Louis Calhern, Ray Milland, and Guy Kibbee. The film is notable for one of Cagney's lines, a phrase often repeated by celebrity impersonators: "That dirty, double-crossin' rat!"
Goodbye Again is a 1933 pre-Code romantic comedy film made by First National Pictures and Warner Bros.
Night Nurse is a 1931 American pre-Code crime drama mystery film produced and distributed by Warner Bros. directed by William A. Wellman, and starring Barbara Stanwyck, Ben Lyon, Joan Blondell and Clark Gable. The film is based on the 1930 novel of the same name by Dora Macy, the pen name of Grace Perkins. The film was considered risqué at the time of its release, particularly the scenes where Stanwyck and Blondell are shown in their lingerie. Clark Gable portrays a viciously violent chauffeur who is gradually starving two little girls to death after having already purposely run over their slightly older sister with a limousine, killing her.
Bright Lights, later retitled Adventures in Africa, is a 1930 American pre-Code musical comedy film produced and released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. It premiered in Los Angeles in July 1930 but was edited and rereleased in early 1931. Although it was photographed entirely in Technicolor, the only surviving print is in black and white. The film stars Dorothy Mackaill, Frank Fay, Noah Beery and Frank McHugh. It also features the screen debut of John Carradine, who appears in a small, uncredited role.
Blondie Johnson is a 1933 American pre-Code gangster film directed by Ray Enright and starring Joan Blondell and Chester Morris. It was produced by Warner Bros.
Colleen is a 1936 American romantic musical comedy film directed by Alfred E. Green and starring Dick Powell, Ruby Keeler, and Joan Blondell. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and was the seventh and final picture starring both Keeler and Powell.
Love Affair is a 1932 American pre-Code romance film based on Ursula Parrott's short story of the same name. The film is directed by Thornton Freeland and produced by Columbia Pictures. Love Affair follows an adventurous socialite, who is in love with an aviation designer.
Safe in Hell is a 1931 American pre-Code melodrama directed by William A. Wellman and starring Dorothy Mackaill and Donald Cook, with featured performances by Morgan Wallace, Ralf Harolde, Nina Mae McKinney, Clarence Muse, and Noble Johnson. The screenplay by Joseph Jackson and Maude Fulton is based on a play by Houston Branch.
The Flirting Widow is a 1930 American pre-Code comedy film directed by William A. Seiter and starring Dorothy Mackaill, Basil Rathbone, Leila Hyams and Claude Gillingwater. It was produced and released by First National Pictures, a subsidiary of Warner Bros.
The Great Divide is a 1929 American pre-Code Western film directed by Reginald Barker and starring Dorothy Mackaill. Released in both silent and sound versions, it was produced and distributed by First National Pictures. The film is a remake of The Great Divide, made at MGM in 1925 and also directed by Barker. There was another remake in 1931 as the full sound film Woman Hungry. All three films are based on the 1906 Broadway play The Great Divide by William Vaughn Moody.
Day-Time Wife is a 1939 screwball comedy directed by Gregory Ratoff, starring Tyrone Power and Linda Darnell. Darnell and Power play Jane and Ken Norton, a married couple approaching their second anniversary. This was Linda Darnell's second film. Day-Time Wife was the first of four films that Darnell and Power made together over the next few years, the others being Brigham Young (1940), The Mark of Zorro (1940), and Blood and Sand (1941).
The Reckless Hour is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by John Francis Dillon and starring Dorothy Mackaill, Conrad Nagel, H.B. Warner and Joan Blondell. It was produced and distributed by First National Pictures, which was controlled by Warner Brothers. It was based on the play Ambush by Arthur Richman.
Party Husband is a 1931 American pre-Code comedy film produced by First National Pictures and released through their parent company Warner Bros. It was directed by Clarence G. Badger and stars Dorothy Mackaill. It is preserved at the Library of Congress.
Illicit is a 1931 American pre-Code drama film directed by Archie Mayo and starring Barbara Stanwyck, James Rennie, Ricardo Cortez, and Natalie Moorhead. Based on a play by Edith Fitzgerald and Robert Riskin, the film is about a young couple living together out of wedlock because the woman does not believe in marriage. When they finally get married, both become unfaithful to each other. Illicit was produced and distributed by Warner Bros.
Traveling Saleslady is a 1935 American comedy film directed by Ray Enright and starring Joan Blondell and Glenda Farrell. It was released by Warner Bros. on March 28, 1935. It is one of five films by Warner Bros. where Farrell and Blondell were paired as two blonde bombshells. The other films include: Havana Widows (1933), Kansas City Princess (1934), We're in the Money (1935) and Miss Pacific Fleet (1935). Actress Joan Blondell was married to the film's cinematographer George Barnes at the time of filming.
My Past is a 1931 American Pre-Code drama film directed by Roy Del Ruth and starring Bebe Daniels. It was produced and distributed by Warner Bros. and was also known under the alternative title The Ex-Mistress.
Miss Pinkerton is a 1932 American pre-Code comedy mystery film about a nurse who becomes involved in a murder investigation. It stars Joan Blondell, George Brent and Ruth Hall. The film is adapted from a book with the same title, by American novelist Mary Roberts Rinehart.
The Bridge of Sighs is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Phil Rosen and written by Louis D. Lighton and Hope Loring. The film stars Dorothy Mackaill, Creighton Hale, Richard Tucker, Alec B. Francis, Ralph Lewis, and Cliff Saum. The film was released by Warner Bros. on January 1, 1925.
The Making of O'Malley is a 1925 American silent drama film directed by Lambert Hillyer and written by Eugene Clifford. The film stars Milton Sills, Dorothy Mackaill, Helen Rowland, Warner Richmond, Thomas Carrigan and Julia Hurley. The film was released on June 28, 1925, by First National Pictures. The Gerald Beaumont short story was also the basis of the 1937 Warner Bros. film The Great O'Malley, directed by William Dieterle and starring Pat O'Brien and Humphrey Bogart.