May 28, 2021
MGM, 1936: the studio of stars, glamour, and conservatism. Or so goes our thesis, which we attempt to complicate by taking a close look at two movies that make romantic rivals of Jean Harlow and Myrna Loy: Clarence Brown's melodrama Wife vs.Secretary and Jack Conway's atypical screwball comedy Libeled Lady. Indubitably the protagonist of the former and top-billed in the latter's star-fest, Harlow plays class underdogs that lend a pointed populism to MGM's aspirational fantasies. We examine MGM's representation of options for career women in Wife vs. Secretary and find it open to a subversive reading.
Time Codes:
0h 01m 00s: WIFE VS SECRETARY (dir. Clarence Brown)
0h 50m 00s: LIBELED LADY (dir. Jack Conway)
Studio Film Capsules provided by The MGM Story by John Douglas Eames
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* Marvel at our meticulously ridiculous Complete Viewing Schedule for the 2020s
*Intro Song: “Sunday” by Jean Goldkette Orchestra with the Keller Sisters (courtesy of The Internet Archive)
* Find Elise’s latest film piece on Billy Wilder and 1930s Romantic Comedy
*And Read lots of Elise’s Writing at Bright Wall/Dark Room, Cléo, and Bright Lights.*
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