Terrific dialog, riveting performances and excellent technical work makes this art deco drama nearly spectacular. Success is the recipe for nice guys becoming tyrants as bosses, cheating on the girls they love, and barely sleeping before starting with their anger while giving dictation. The story isn't strong, but when all the other elements are superb.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. gives the best performance I've ever seen him give as the young man with bright ideas who climbs up the ladder and fired his former boss (Frank Morgan) who once fired him then changed his mind. Along the way, he dumps secretary girlfriend Colleen Moore for Morgan's former mistress, Genevieve Tobin, Ann Morgan, on his way out, asks more to marry him. The same day, assistant Edward Everett Horton and his wife, dizzy secretary Nydia Westman, announce that they are leaving as well. How long will it take for Fairbanks to wake up and smell the chock full of nuts?
There's some great exchanges of witty and sophisticated dialog exchanged, especially by Fairbanks and Tobin, with Morgan and Westman truly sensational with performances that truly reveal who their characters are. Fascinating uses of photographic swipes show the passage of time, and the sets are truly sumptuous. Fairbanks is fascinating because he's much younger than the actors usually cast in these parts, and his transition from anxious newcomer to ruthless cut throat boss is sensational.
Douglas Fairbanks Jr. gives the best performance I've ever seen him give as the young man with bright ideas who climbs up the ladder and fired his former boss (Frank Morgan) who once fired him then changed his mind. Along the way, he dumps secretary girlfriend Colleen Moore for Morgan's former mistress, Genevieve Tobin, Ann Morgan, on his way out, asks more to marry him. The same day, assistant Edward Everett Horton and his wife, dizzy secretary Nydia Westman, announce that they are leaving as well. How long will it take for Fairbanks to wake up and smell the chock full of nuts?
There's some great exchanges of witty and sophisticated dialog exchanged, especially by Fairbanks and Tobin, with Morgan and Westman truly sensational with performances that truly reveal who their characters are. Fascinating uses of photographic swipes show the passage of time, and the sets are truly sumptuous. Fairbanks is fascinating because he's much younger than the actors usually cast in these parts, and his transition from anxious newcomer to ruthless cut throat boss is sensational.