"She Married Her Boss" is a pleasant comedy-romance, with some lessons about workaholics and dysfunctional families. Claudette Colbert is Julia Scott, the six-year manager behind the scenes of the Barclay Department Store in New York. While a superb business manager, she has pined for years for the boss. Melvin Douglas is he, Richard Barclay. Having had a marriage that ended in divorce, he's now all business and scarcely notices women other than as employees or customers.
Without a loving wife's touch at home, the Barclay household has become a den of dysfunction. It starts with Richard's sister, Gertrude (played very well by Katharine Alexander), who can't begin to manage a household. It includes his daughter, Annabel (played by Edith Fellows) who has become a spoiled brat. And it involves servants who have used the family dysfunction to line their own pockets.
That's the setting when Julia and Richard eventually tie the knot. And the changes she brings about work for the better for everyone except – you guessed it, Richard. Douglas does a fine job of playing a hard-nosed business type who just won't be enticed to warmth, love and the rest of the trimmings – even with his attractive new wife and household manager.
This is billed as a comedy, and that it is. There isn't a lot of witty dialog; but some situations that would otherwise be considered drama have a spark when Julia takes charge.
It's an enjoyable film, but one that is most interesting for how Julia handles the Barclay dysfunction all around her. Colbert shows her great talent as an actress in this role that dallies between comedy, love, seriousness, sadness and taking charge to make changes and get things done.
The funniest single aspect in this film is Gertrude's penchant for fainting at things that seem too ghastly for her blue blood to endure. One time, when she tells Richard she may faint, he says, "Go ahead!" and walks out of the room. There is a little bit of screwball comedy toward the end when Richard gets soused with his butler, Franklin (played very well by Raymond Walburn). I won't give away the shenanigans they and Julia get into, but let's say it might be a scrape with the law. Toward the end, Richard and Franklin are waiting for Julia to come down the stairs, and Gertrude faints – plop on the floor, and they don't know where she went.
Without a loving wife's touch at home, the Barclay household has become a den of dysfunction. It starts with Richard's sister, Gertrude (played very well by Katharine Alexander), who can't begin to manage a household. It includes his daughter, Annabel (played by Edith Fellows) who has become a spoiled brat. And it involves servants who have used the family dysfunction to line their own pockets.
That's the setting when Julia and Richard eventually tie the knot. And the changes she brings about work for the better for everyone except – you guessed it, Richard. Douglas does a fine job of playing a hard-nosed business type who just won't be enticed to warmth, love and the rest of the trimmings – even with his attractive new wife and household manager.
This is billed as a comedy, and that it is. There isn't a lot of witty dialog; but some situations that would otherwise be considered drama have a spark when Julia takes charge.
It's an enjoyable film, but one that is most interesting for how Julia handles the Barclay dysfunction all around her. Colbert shows her great talent as an actress in this role that dallies between comedy, love, seriousness, sadness and taking charge to make changes and get things done.
The funniest single aspect in this film is Gertrude's penchant for fainting at things that seem too ghastly for her blue blood to endure. One time, when she tells Richard she may faint, he says, "Go ahead!" and walks out of the room. There is a little bit of screwball comedy toward the end when Richard gets soused with his butler, Franklin (played very well by Raymond Walburn). I won't give away the shenanigans they and Julia get into, but let's say it might be a scrape with the law. Toward the end, Richard and Franklin are waiting for Julia to come down the stairs, and Gertrude faints – plop on the floor, and they don't know where she went.