Hollywood Studios Year-by-Year – MGM – 1936: WIFE VS SECRETARY & LIBELED LADY

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                                     +++ * 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.* Follow us on Twitter at @therebuggy Write to us at [email protected]