I watched this movie with my wife. She is a rom-com buff. I am not. I found it very interesting that I truly liked this movie while she was lukewarm about it.
Sylvia Brenner (Constance Bennett) was in love with her boss, Gaylord Stanton (Kenneth MacKenna), though he didn't know it. Stanton wasn't in love with anyone. The only thing he loved was his freedom of attachment. While all of his friends were married, he was happily dating a married woman which meant he didn't have to tie the knot himself. Dating a married woman should've made him a more despicable character, but for some reason it didn't in this case.
When Stanton's paramour, Grace Lawrence (Rita La Roy), stated that she was getting divorced which would free her up to marry Stanton, he was visibly concerned. Should she divorce her husband and name him as the "correspondent" (i.e. The man she was seeing on the side), societal rules dictated that Stanton would have to marry her. He was part of high society after all.
To wriggle out of marrying Grace he proposed to his secretary Sylvia. The proposal was more like an indecent proposal. No, he didn't want sex from her, he offered her $5000 for a year's marriage that would only be a marriage on paper. If he was "married," he wouldn't have to marry Grace. He would continue his playboy ways and Sylvia could go on holiday since her new job was being Stanton's "wife." His proposal could've been viewed as offensive, and Sylvia certainly didn't like the idea, but she accepted it anyway either out of wanting to help the man she loved or because it was better than being a secretary.
I thought the movie was creative, funny, and compelling. Sylvia would face a real lover's conundrum when she met Reggie Durant (Basil Rathbone) while she was vacationing in Paris. He fell for her and wanted to authentically marry her. Reggie's presence added to the drama--would Sylvia marry him or would Stanton finally reciprocate the love she had for him? It would give the audience something to fret over until the very end.
Free on YouTube.
Sylvia Brenner (Constance Bennett) was in love with her boss, Gaylord Stanton (Kenneth MacKenna), though he didn't know it. Stanton wasn't in love with anyone. The only thing he loved was his freedom of attachment. While all of his friends were married, he was happily dating a married woman which meant he didn't have to tie the knot himself. Dating a married woman should've made him a more despicable character, but for some reason it didn't in this case.
When Stanton's paramour, Grace Lawrence (Rita La Roy), stated that she was getting divorced which would free her up to marry Stanton, he was visibly concerned. Should she divorce her husband and name him as the "correspondent" (i.e. The man she was seeing on the side), societal rules dictated that Stanton would have to marry her. He was part of high society after all.
To wriggle out of marrying Grace he proposed to his secretary Sylvia. The proposal was more like an indecent proposal. No, he didn't want sex from her, he offered her $5000 for a year's marriage that would only be a marriage on paper. If he was "married," he wouldn't have to marry Grace. He would continue his playboy ways and Sylvia could go on holiday since her new job was being Stanton's "wife." His proposal could've been viewed as offensive, and Sylvia certainly didn't like the idea, but she accepted it anyway either out of wanting to help the man she loved or because it was better than being a secretary.
I thought the movie was creative, funny, and compelling. Sylvia would face a real lover's conundrum when she met Reggie Durant (Basil Rathbone) while she was vacationing in Paris. He fell for her and wanted to authentically marry her. Reggie's presence added to the drama--would Sylvia marry him or would Stanton finally reciprocate the love she had for him? It would give the audience something to fret over until the very end.
Free on YouTube.