... among the usual constrained unfunny comedies of the early production code era. Angela Twitchell (Joan Blondell) is the only child and go-getter daughter of toothpaste tycoon Rufus Twitchell (Grant Mitchell). The problem is, Mr. Twitchell won't let Angela go get anything. He has prehistoric ideas about women being too emotionally unstable and just not smart enough to be involved in business of any kind.
Angela meets up with an ex-bootlegger who has discovered how to get the flavor of his various bootleg formulas into toothpaste, but has been futile at his efforts to get Mr. Twitchell to talk to him - Elmer, played by Hugh Herbert. So Angela decides to get back at dad and take Elmer to dad's competitor. She tells the competitor that she will "rent" Elmer's formulas and labor to him for one year, providing she is allowed to be on the sales staff and get a percentage of her sales as income. The competitor agrees.
So Angela is out on the road, in competition with Pat O'Connor (William Gargan), representing Twitchell, who seemed like a big sleaze bag to me at first. For example, Angela gets no consideration from the first sales call she makes, which is on Glenda Farrell playing Claudette the buyer for a drugstore concern. O'Connor is leading Claudette on and thus Claudette only deals in Twitchell products. O'Connor is there when Angela strikes out, and is condescending and arrogant to her, amused by the idea of a saleslady. But he is not amused long. The rest of the picture is basically a battle of wits between Angela as a figurative Bugs Bunny and O'Connor as a figurative Daffy Duck. And we all know how cartoons go that have those two in them. A rare feminist situation in 1935 American films, compounded by the fact that O'Connor does not know Angela's true identity.
Hugh Herbert is portioned out in small doses, and that makes him work in this film as too much of his typical confused and inane act can get old fast. The double entendres don't come fast and furious as they would have in the precode era, but a few do get through if you listen carefully enough. Even our two feminist characters in this film show a bit of prejudice. Before their first meeting - Angela as saleslady and Claudette as the head of buying for her drugstore - both women assume the other is a man and are putting on their face assuming that will help them with the man they are assuming they will be dealing with.
And who can't help like a film that shows the sales route of the two rival toothpaste salespersons as lines of toothpaste meandering across a map of the U.S? Highly recommended.
Angela meets up with an ex-bootlegger who has discovered how to get the flavor of his various bootleg formulas into toothpaste, but has been futile at his efforts to get Mr. Twitchell to talk to him - Elmer, played by Hugh Herbert. So Angela decides to get back at dad and take Elmer to dad's competitor. She tells the competitor that she will "rent" Elmer's formulas and labor to him for one year, providing she is allowed to be on the sales staff and get a percentage of her sales as income. The competitor agrees.
So Angela is out on the road, in competition with Pat O'Connor (William Gargan), representing Twitchell, who seemed like a big sleaze bag to me at first. For example, Angela gets no consideration from the first sales call she makes, which is on Glenda Farrell playing Claudette the buyer for a drugstore concern. O'Connor is leading Claudette on and thus Claudette only deals in Twitchell products. O'Connor is there when Angela strikes out, and is condescending and arrogant to her, amused by the idea of a saleslady. But he is not amused long. The rest of the picture is basically a battle of wits between Angela as a figurative Bugs Bunny and O'Connor as a figurative Daffy Duck. And we all know how cartoons go that have those two in them. A rare feminist situation in 1935 American films, compounded by the fact that O'Connor does not know Angela's true identity.
Hugh Herbert is portioned out in small doses, and that makes him work in this film as too much of his typical confused and inane act can get old fast. The double entendres don't come fast and furious as they would have in the precode era, but a few do get through if you listen carefully enough. Even our two feminist characters in this film show a bit of prejudice. Before their first meeting - Angela as saleslady and Claudette as the head of buying for her drugstore - both women assume the other is a man and are putting on their face assuming that will help them with the man they are assuming they will be dealing with.
And who can't help like a film that shows the sales route of the two rival toothpaste salespersons as lines of toothpaste meandering across a map of the U.S? Highly recommended.