Employees' Entrance is a drama about keeping a business afloat during the Great Depression. The business is a large department store called Monroe's and the owner Hale Hamilton is said to be a descendant of both James Monroe and Benjamin Franklin. But while this worthless heir enjoys his yacht, Warren William is doing whatever it takes and doing it ruthlessly to keep the store afloat.There won't be too many people in mourning when William shuffles off the mortal coil. But that's all right by him. Every fiber of his being is devoted to his job. He's quite the user of people and one of them he spots a possible protege, Wallace Ford. He likes single men with no families working for him. But William doesn't know that Ford is secretly married to a young model William has hired, Loretta Young. That's going to present problems.A lot of similar theme are present here as in Billy Wilder's classic The Apartment. No romantic angle like in The Apartment for William however, he's 100% business. However Young and Ford reach the same conclusions that Jack Lemmon and Shirley MacLaine do in The Apartment.A few familiar faces from Warner Brothers stock company are present like Ruth Donnelly and Allen Jenkins. Stealing every scene she's in is man trap Alice White. William has her on special assignment.Employees' Entrance holds up well though this is a film firmly set in the time of The Great Depression.

The ethic of working employees like pack mules, without regard for their personal lives (as if they were allowed to have them!) portrayed in the film was shocking to me. I saw the film in Silicon Valley, and it could have been portraying any of the overtime-obsessed companies around today. Its prescience was indeed, amazing. My eyes bugged open more with each turn of how outlandish can the Boss get. "A primer on sexual harassment" one comment on the film said, and it certainly was enjoyable to watch the slap & smack fest in the office. The other employees and board members round out the cast of anyone you work with today: from butt-coverers to disconnected semi-retirees who find the idea of showing up at the office an inconvenience to their day. My popcorn was untouched, because my mouth was either gasping or laughing, too quickly switching from one to the next to get a munch in edgewise.

A very watchable pre-code film - not so only it's risque elements but for acting (particularly Warren William), plot, comedy and fast pace. One of my favorites of the era.It's very interesting how Warren William - who treats women like objects, tries to break up a budding romance (by seducing and sleeping with Loretta Young, not once but twice!!), indirectly leads to a employees' suicide, etc - manages to "win" in the end. For the most part, the is the "bad guy" in the story...although he has a few redeeming characteristics.It's worth owning the video.

Warren William (Kurt Anderson) gets to dominate the picture as a ruthless department store manager who throws away employees, suppliers and women without pity. Alice White (Polly Dale) is also exceptional as the women he uses to seduce and control men he can't dominate otherwise.An interesting look at a workplace in the depth of the depression. The department store sets are also interesting for showing retail design of the time.