"She Married Her Boss" is a pleasant comedy-romance, with some lessons about workaholics and dysfunctional families. Claudette Colbert is Julia Scott, the six-year manager behind the scenes of the Barclay Department Store in New York. While a superb business manager, she has pined for years for the boss. Melvin Douglas is he, Richard Barclay. Having had a marriage that ended in divorce, he's now all business and scarcely notices women other than as employees or customers.Without a loving wife's touch at home, the Barclay household has become a den of dysfunction. It starts with Richard's sister, Gertrude (played very well by Katharine Alexander), who can't begin to manage a household. It includes his daughter, Annabel (played by Edith Fellows) who has become a spoiled brat. And it involves servants who have used the family dysfunction to line their own pockets.That's the setting when Julia and Richard eventually tie the knot. And the changes she brings about work for the better for everyone except – you guessed it, Richard. Douglas does a fine job of playing a hard-nosed business type who just won't be enticed to warmth, love and the rest of the trimmings – even with his attractive new wife and household manager.This is billed as a comedy, and that it is. There isn't a lot of witty dialog; but some situations that would otherwise be considered drama have a spark when Julia takes charge.It's an enjoyable film, but one that is most interesting for how Julia handles the Barclay dysfunction all around her. Colbert shows her great talent as an actress in this role that dallies between comedy, love, seriousness, sadness and taking charge to make changes and get things done.The funniest single aspect in this film is Gertrude's penchant for fainting at things that seem too ghastly for her blue blood to endure. One time, when she tells Richard she may faint, he says, "Go ahead!" and walks out of the room. There is a little bit of screwball comedy toward the end when Richard gets soused with his butler, Franklin (played very well by Raymond Walburn). I won't give away the shenanigans they and Julia get into, but let's say it might be a scrape with the law. Toward the end, Richard and Franklin are waiting for Julia to come down the stairs, and Gertrude faints – plop on the floor, and they don't know where she went.

Claudette Colbert and Melvyn Douglas star in "She Married Her Boss," a 1935 comedy also starring Edith Fellows and Jean Dixon.This is a very dated comedy including a wife having to leave her career when she gets married, drunk driving, and child abuse - all things that are pretty much out now. Sometimes it's hard, but the only way to get anything out of these movies is to take them for what they were - done at a specific time when society mores were different. Some of it, however, has to do with the censors, particularly the career woman part, and there really wasn't any need for it. Interesting to me that the censors were very careful to push the nonworking mom but okayed spanking a kid with a hairbrush and drunk driving.Claudette Colbert is Julia Scott, an efficient assistant at a department store, taking care of a huge office for her boss Richard Barclay (Melvyn Douglas). Julia isn't happy - her idea of a real career would be to marry her boss, with whom she's been in love for six years. She gets her wish, and his darling daughter (Fellows) along with it.Julia finds that Barclay's home is a mess, and sets about putting it in order. Bonding with his daughter is going to take more, however, than mere efficiency. The kid's a brat. And Barclay's sister, who's used to having things her own way, is no party either.Colbert is fabulous, and Douglas, one of the great actors, doesn't infuse a terrible part with much warmth. His character isn't very likable, and one never feels that this is a truly married and in love couple. I don't really blame Douglas - the role is badly written, to go along with some of the script. The supporting actors are all excellent, including the aforementioned, Katherine Alexander as Barclay's sister and Raymond Walburn as the butler.There are some very good scenes, and the film is definitely worth it for Colbert - and a look at how far we've come in some arenas.

This film is Claudette Colbert's. She is terrific and it looks like the film was written to showcase her talents--and she was a heck of an actress. On the other hand, the male lead (Melvin Douglas) plays such a one-dimensional character that he is tough to like. It really looks as if the writers just didn't bother to write his part with any depth or care. As a result, Colbert comes off like an angel and Douglas comes off as a complete putz. Had this difference not been so extreme and his character a been written a bit more believably, the film would have no doubt become a classic.Colbert plays the brilliant and indispensable secretary to the head of a department store owned by Douglas. However, despite Douglas having lots of money, his home life is a mess. He's a widower, his young daughter is a beastly little brat and his sister (who lives with them) is a bitter old hen who does much to make the home a mess. But, because he's totally blind to the truth, Douglas can't figure out how to make his home work as well as his office (which is essentially run by Colbert). So in desperation, he asks Colbert to marry him and work her magic in his personal life. There are two major problems with this, however. First, while Colbert adores him, his feelings are rather indifferent. She is saddened to see that it's more a marriage of convenience than anything else (what a jerk Douglas turns out to be!). Second, the sister does everything she can to ruin the marriage. For a while at least, Douglas is blind to the truth and the marriage is a failure. Naturally, by the end, all is patched up and its happily ever after--a cliché, I know, but an ending most out there wanted to see.There are a couple elements to this film that might alarm some. The bratty child truly was in need of a lot of discipline and when Colbert administers it with a hairbrush, I am sure some out there might flinch. Well, considering the child was a pathological liar and vicious, the corporal punishment seemed justified (though perhaps not with a brush). This part didn't bother me at all--I just wanted to see Colbert then turn the brush on her sister-in-law!! Second, in the end, there was a very irresponsible scene that made drunk driving seem fun! In addition, this was just dumb and made me flinch at the notion of sober Colbert hopping a ride with a drunk driver! Still, despite these odd scenes, the film is entertaining and a great showcase for Colbert.

Most modern viewers of 1930's comedies will be accustomed to the necessity of suspending disbelief and modern sensibilities to entirely enjoy these films. However, She Married Her Boss contains one or two scenes which make this a difficult task. The main problematic scene is the drunk driving scene which is sufficiently reckless as to be just plain alarming to modern audiences but fortunately occurs at the end of the movie so as not to be troubling throughout. The second such scene however is the (aural) scene of Julia (Claudette Colbert) spanking Anabelle several times with a hairbrush. In modern times, with the idea of physically punishing children being so controversial, this scene refuses to simply fade into the background of the film and become simply a comedic scene and lingers in a slight feeling of unease in watching the remainder of the film despite Annabelle's growing affection for Julia. Simliarly Julia's friends taunts of Annabelle appear somewhat cruel; being adults ganging up on an unhappy child, no matter how obnoxious her behaviour.Although some of the comedic aspects of the film may not translate to a modern audience, the film nevertheless contains some gems of serious scenes - Claudette Colbert's reaction to her husband mocking her for behaving like a woman and his criticism that she is making their marriage "just like any other marriage". Similarly the shop dummy scene can be enjoyed on a number of levels, the drunken comedy is delightful but also wonderful is Colbert's pained expression and declaration that "Julia doesn't live here anymore". Finally my favourite scene of the film, when Melvyn Douglass confronts Colbert after her antics in the shop window appear in the press, effectively calling her "second hand goods". Colberts reactions from resignation, to pride to hurt to confrontation are a pure acting lesson.While some of the comedy may struggle to appeal to modern audiences, the scene of the new bride (Colbert) being carried over the thresh-hold by her new husband's butler remains one of the funniest moments in 1930's comedy and Julia's kicking of the child shop dummy (surely a reaction to her troubled step-daughter) remains a guilty pleasure so that despite some reservations the film continues to work on both the dramatic and comedic levels despite some need to be prepared more than usual to put modern considerations aside to entirely enjoy this.