I love pretty much anything with Warren William but had never seen anything with Marian Marsh before. She is delightful. It's a fun romp that doesn't tax the brain with over complicated plot lines but isn't a boring romance either. Predictable yes but when they do it with such sparkle and style - who cares.

Clearly a pun on "Beauty and the Beast".... this early talkie is so under-rated. It's just before the Hays code started being enforced, and the clever banter gets quite saucy. Warren William (from the Lone Wolf films) is the all-business, hardworking company president, who has no time for the flirtations of his secretaries, first Mary Doran, then Marian Marsh. It turns into a kind of competition between the two girls, after a confrontation. Doran is "Ollie", who uses her wit, wiles, and low-cut dresses to try to lure in the Baron. Susie (Marsh) tries to take the high road at first, but sees how easy it is to make men swoon with Ollie's naughty girlie ways. Charles Butterworth is here as the office manager, and has all the best lines. That dry, sarcastic wit, which he brought from his vaudeville days, usually muttered under his breath. He was only 36 in this film, but wow, he always looked old as dirt. Frederick Kerr is the Baron's sidekick, but doesn't really add much to the story. It's fun being an observer, to see who will "win" the prize. Story by Hungarian Ladislas Fodor, and the foreign currency and other words creep into the conversation. Directed by Roy Del Ruth, who had been around since the early days of silents, and successfully moved into talkies. This one is a lot of fun. Doesn't seem to have been shown often on TCM, with only 300 votes. Warner packed a lot into 66 minutes, and it moves right along. Recommended ! Catch it if you can. Warner Brother archives HAS released this on DVD...

"Beauty and the Boss" is a 1932 film starring Warren William, Marian Marsh, and David Manners. Since it's precode, it's filled with innuendo. William plays a Viennese bank president who is easily distracted by his secretary, so distracted, in fact, that he fires her. Times were different, but maybe not - in 2013, a similar incident made national news, as one did in 2010.As soon as his secretary has been dismissed, a young woman crashes into his office demanding a job. She's hungry and supporting her mother and her dog. Impressed with her steno skills, he hires her. She falls for him and quietly sabotages a few of his relationships.This film was a big hit so Marsh and William were paired up again but with less success. Marian Marsh is of course adorable, and William is his usually cad-like self. Handsome David Manners, who plays his brother, is charming.Cute comedy, not as brazen as "Baby Face" or other precodes, but fun just the same.

Originally entitled The Church Mouse in New York, London, and Paris where it began as a play by Ladislas Fodor, Beauty And The Boss is an average comedy with a few good laughs about a wealthy man who can't decide whether he wants efficiency or eye candy as female employees. The play ran a respectable 164 performances on Broadway in the 1931-32 season for the Depression and the most prominent name in the cast was that of Ruth Gordon.Warren William is the French industrial tycoon with this terrible dilemma and when he finds he can't concentrate on his business because he finds stenographer Mary Doran too attractive he fires Doran. There won't be that problem with Marian Marsh however who dresses down and dowdy so much that she's called a church mouse. But she's set her cap for William and she'll do whatever it takes to nail him.Rounding out this European comedy of manners is David Manners as William's fun loving brother, they're much like the Larrabee brothers in Sabrina. There's also Frederic Kerr as a count with a roving eye and the ever droll Charles Butterworth who for me is always a pleasure to watch in anything. The material cast has to work with is pretty thin, but they rise to the occasion and while Beauty And The Boss will never be rated as one of the great comedies of the Thirties it will give a few good laughs to anyone who views it.