A few years ago, there was a reality show in which bosses went undercover to check out how their businesses were being run. This pre-World War II comedy might have been one of the early inspirations for the modern-day series.
Charles Coburn steals the show as a mega-rich curmudgeon John P. Merrick who happens to have a NYC department store in his portfolio. When employees hang an effigy of him outside the store to protest mandatory termination after 15 years of service with no benefits, John decides to hire a private detective Thomas Higgins to root out the troublemakers.
When Higgins begs off the job due to his wife's pregnancy, Merrick decides to work undercover using the detective's name at the store.
The plot is an obvious one but enjoyable: we know that John (aka Tom) will eventually become sympathetic to the plight of his workers, but we want to see how he gets there.
I doubt that "The Devil" would have been made after the war as there is a real pro-labor bent to the narrative. Remember the Depression really lasted until America entered the war and Hollywood favored the underdog and the downtrodden at that time.
Robert Cummings plays the idealistic labor agitator Joe O'Brien who dates Mary Jones (Jean Arthur), the store clerk. Mary befriends Tom and tries to match him up with the older employee Elizabeth Ellis (Spring Byington)-a match which eventually proves successful.
Tom must undergo his "baptism of fire" when he takes a trip to Coney Island with Mary, Joe and Elizabeth where a fairly amusing confrontation takes place with the police who give them all a hard time. Joe has commitment issues and Arthur (known for her slapstick comedy roles) gets to do a little serious acting expounding on the nature of relationships after Joe seemingly walks out on her.
Everything is happily wrapped up when Tom reveals his true identity, putting his stuffed shirt board of directors in their place, firing Hooper (Edmund Gwen), the arrogant section manager, satisfying all of Joe and Mary's labor demands, and topping it all off with a free cruise for all employees to Hawaii.
The best part of the film is seeing how the curmudgeon is transformed from a person who is cut off from others to a gregarious, giving individual.
The Devil and Miss Jones is decidedly lightweight but will leave a smile on your face.
Charles Coburn steals the show as a mega-rich curmudgeon John P. Merrick who happens to have a NYC department store in his portfolio. When employees hang an effigy of him outside the store to protest mandatory termination after 15 years of service with no benefits, John decides to hire a private detective Thomas Higgins to root out the troublemakers.
When Higgins begs off the job due to his wife's pregnancy, Merrick decides to work undercover using the detective's name at the store.
The plot is an obvious one but enjoyable: we know that John (aka Tom) will eventually become sympathetic to the plight of his workers, but we want to see how he gets there.
I doubt that "The Devil" would have been made after the war as there is a real pro-labor bent to the narrative. Remember the Depression really lasted until America entered the war and Hollywood favored the underdog and the downtrodden at that time.
Robert Cummings plays the idealistic labor agitator Joe O'Brien who dates Mary Jones (Jean Arthur), the store clerk. Mary befriends Tom and tries to match him up with the older employee Elizabeth Ellis (Spring Byington)-a match which eventually proves successful.
Tom must undergo his "baptism of fire" when he takes a trip to Coney Island with Mary, Joe and Elizabeth where a fairly amusing confrontation takes place with the police who give them all a hard time. Joe has commitment issues and Arthur (known for her slapstick comedy roles) gets to do a little serious acting expounding on the nature of relationships after Joe seemingly walks out on her.
Everything is happily wrapped up when Tom reveals his true identity, putting his stuffed shirt board of directors in their place, firing Hooper (Edmund Gwen), the arrogant section manager, satisfying all of Joe and Mary's labor demands, and topping it all off with a free cruise for all employees to Hawaii.
The best part of the film is seeing how the curmudgeon is transformed from a person who is cut off from others to a gregarious, giving individual.
The Devil and Miss Jones is decidedly lightweight but will leave a smile on your face.