Spotlight

Spotlight Date: 21-June-09
Spoiler Rating: High

Wife vs. Secretary (1936)

It is amazing that this movie ever made it to my Netflix queue. Renting a DVD called "Wife vs. Secretary" means opening oneself to offensive gags about stereotypical cretins in outmoded situations. Yet whatever the cause of my selection — broad-mindedness, accident, or the lure of four legends of cinema — braving this movie paid off. Despite its lurid title, Wife vs. Secretary is a solid picture about characters whose feelings and actions are rooted in human nature instead of cliché.

A cross between melodrama, love story, and comedy, Wife vs. Secretary centers around successful publisher Van Stanhope (Clark Gable) and his wife Linda (Myrna Loy). After three years of marriage they are very much in love, the gorgeous golden couple among a glittering circle of friends. Van is bright, creative, and outgoing and relies on others to keep him pointed in the right direction. While Linda tends to his social and emotional needs at home, Whitey (Jean Harlow) serves as his right hand at the office and anywhere else business takes him. This arrangement satisfies all concerned until outsiders introduce shadows of doubt. Linda's old-school mother-in-law takes one look at Whitey and advises Linda to remove temptation from Van's way. Meanwhile Whitey's fiancé (James Stewart) complains about how devoted she is to her boss, so devoted that she is reluctant to marry and transfer her attention to a husband and children.

The clever script sends Van and Whitey into a secretive business deal which looks like adultery to Linda's newly suspicious eyes. Interestingly, her suspicion prompts Van to realize that Whitey is a sexually potent woman for the first time. He never dreamed of two-timing the love of his life, but nobody likes to be called a cheat or a liar, so the very introduction of the idea into his marriage turns it into a possibility. For her part, Linda tries not to be a shrew but eventually (and understandably) comes to believe that Van and Whitey's trip to Havana was planned for pleasure. She is heartbroken. A break-up ensues with divorce hovering on the horizon.

The crux and conclusion of this mess revolves around Van's dependency. I was briefly tempted to scorn him, but Gable's brand of masculinity goes a long way towards explaining Van's personality and the women's reactions to it. Like most people of either sex he does not like to be alone, and his good looks and gregariousness draw others to him so he never has to concentrate on fulfilling his needs. What he does is mostly blameless; who he is brings about the crisis. True to form, Whitey finally finds the strength and vision to sort it out for all of them. It is not wife versus secretary but wife and secretary, both orbiting a bright star trying to be warmed, not burned by his light.

Copyright © 2009 The Jujube (M. I. Kim). All rights reserved.