Behind Office Doors
by Melville W. Brown
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DVD Cover Information
Actor: Catherine Dale Owen, Kitty Kelly, Mary Astor, Ricardo Cortez, Robert AmesDirector: Melville W. Brown
Cinematographer: J. Roy Hunt
Editor: Archie Marshek
Producer: Henry Hobart
Producer: William LeBaron
Writer: Alan Schultz
Writer: Carey Wilson
Writer: J. Walter Ruben
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
Picture Format: 1.33:1
Running Time: 82 minutes
DVD Release Date: 2004-07-27
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Studio: Alpha Video
Movie Reviews of Behind Office Doors
Movie Review: an excellent early "talkie"
Summary: 5 Stars
Behind Office Doors boasts a great cast all of whom turn in wonderful, convincing performances. The plot moves along at a very good pace and it held my interest completely. The cinematography is about average for the time; stationary cameras often required actors to walk into the camera range but the choreography works well throughout the film. The quality of the print could be a little bit better but overall it is quite satisfactory.
When the action starts, we quickly meet Mary Linden (Mary Astor) and her roommate Dolores (Kitty Kelly). Mary comes home from work to find Kitty throwing a party in their shared apartment. The gang leaves soon after the landlady complains about the noise but not before Mary meets Ronnie Wales (Ricardo Cortez) at the party. Although Ronnie tells Mary he's single and interested in dating her, Mary has her eyes on salesman James Duneen (Robert Ames) to whom she gives tips at the company where they both work. That way, Mary can get Jim to move up the ladder--and give him the idea that she's madly in love with him.
As time passes, Mary really shows she's the brains behind the whole company--she proposes that the elderly owner sell his company to the employees and make Jim vice-president. Soon Jim takes over as president, all the while with Mary at his side although he simply never realizes that Mary deeply loves him. Mary shields Jim from more than just the worst of business dangers; she steers him away from gold digging women and she yearns for him no matter what. Unfortunately, the one night they share romantic time together Jim is so drunk that he forgets the whole thing by the following morning. When Jim gets engaged to society girl Ellen Robinson (Catherine Dale Owen), Ellen forces Mary to quit--and Mary caves in, quitting and still never asserting that she is the one for Jim.
Meanwhile, Ronnie still has his eyes on Mary. Although he is married, he has been estranged from his wife for a couple of years and if she weren't wealthy he would divorce her. Mary, however, doesn't want to be "cheap" and so she rejects Ronnie's romantic advances even when spending a week-end with him in Atlantic City.
What happens after all this? Will Jim ever come to his senses and realize that Mary, and not Ellen Robinson, is truly the one for him? What about Ronnie--does he get up the courage to divorce his wife so that he can be with Mary? And how does Daisy, a young girl who Jim finds attractive, fit into all this? Jim has hired Daisy essentially because he is attracted to her; will she interfere with anything? Watch and find out!
The DVD has no extras--unless you count scene selection.
Behind Office Doors is a high quality pre-code movie that rises above the technical limits of the time to tell a good story with excellent acting. I highly recommend this film for fans of the actors in this movie; and people who like pre-code movies will not be disappointed.
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