It's April, 1941, in New York. War in Europe but no Pearl Harbor yet, and we're almost out of the Great Depression -- but not quite. Labor and management were still at odds with one another.
This story, reminiscent in its own way of "Sullivan's Travels", has Coburn as the mean skinflint who is one of the richest men in the city and who discovers that one of his possessions, a department store, is burning him in effigy for his employment practices.
Well, Coburn didn't even know he owned the store but his pride is wounded and he's determined to get to the bottom of this by posing as just another employee. He'll insinuate his way into the workers and find out who's responsible.
What happens next, you can guess.
It's pretty funny. Charles Coburn is more human than he was in any of his other films. Robert Cummings as the labor leader is -- let's say -- earnest enough. But two performances are outstanding. First, Edmund Gwenn as the condescending department head who takes such sly pleasure in humiliating underlings. And Jean Arthur, the effervescent, vibrant, and sexy shoe saleslady who is very appealing.
It's not a screwball comedy, nor as wildly hilarious as "Sullivan's Travels." There are a few pratfalls but no frenzy, more smiles than gut-busting laughter. Funniest scene: Coburn on his knees trying to wrestle a high-top shoe onto the foot of some snotty young girl who keeps kicking him and screaming, "I don't LIKE it!" Coburn, determined as always to get his way, carries on as if shoeing a horse.
This story, reminiscent in its own way of "Sullivan's Travels", has Coburn as the mean skinflint who is one of the richest men in the city and who discovers that one of his possessions, a department store, is burning him in effigy for his employment practices.
Well, Coburn didn't even know he owned the store but his pride is wounded and he's determined to get to the bottom of this by posing as just another employee. He'll insinuate his way into the workers and find out who's responsible.
What happens next, you can guess.
It's pretty funny. Charles Coburn is more human than he was in any of his other films. Robert Cummings as the labor leader is -- let's say -- earnest enough. But two performances are outstanding. First, Edmund Gwenn as the condescending department head who takes such sly pleasure in humiliating underlings. And Jean Arthur, the effervescent, vibrant, and sexy shoe saleslady who is very appealing.
It's not a screwball comedy, nor as wildly hilarious as "Sullivan's Travels." There are a few pratfalls but no frenzy, more smiles than gut-busting laughter. Funniest scene: Coburn on his knees trying to wrestle a high-top shoe onto the foot of some snotty young girl who keeps kicking him and screaming, "I don't LIKE it!" Coburn, determined as always to get his way, carries on as if shoeing a horse.