Washington D.C. was notorious during the war years for being completely short on hotel rooms and apartments, and this is just one of at least three films on that subject, the others being "The More the Merrier" and "The Doughgirls". This is a surprisingly good forgotten comedy about this issue which leads two businessmen (Fred MacMurray and Edward Arnold) to end up as butlers to a businessman whom they are interested in dealing with. Of course, Arnold doesn't "buttle" until the end (he actually looks like "Downton Abbey's" Carson), and it is secretary Paulette Goddard who gets MacMurray into this mess.
It all starts when Goddard schemes her way into the position of secretary to MacMurray, a businessman all the factory workers (including Goddard) say "ooh la la" about every time he walks through. Goddard is sent upstairs, apparently to be fired, but when she sees the perfect situation to take on the job of MacMurray's secretary, she grabs it. Of course, she's not the brightest bulb in the secretarial pool, forgetting MacMurray's brief case in the cab on their way to Grand Central, then canceling their hotel room by mistake. She finds them a place to stay, but as live-in housekeeper and butler to a bizarre couple played by Roland Young and Anne Revere. Young is the stay-at-home husband and Revere is in the military, so their marriage is far from normal. MacMurray is anxious to meet with D.C. businessman Clarence Kolb who ends up being a guest at their employer, giving an in to making a deal with him.
This sprightly comedy is a fast moving romp with Goddard and MacMurray as memorable as they were in 1942's "The Forest Rangers". She's not a gold-digger or good time girl here, just a screwball romantic type that is also a bit of a klutz. He, of course, starts off as the serious type who lightens a lot as the film goes forward, finding fun in Goddard's silly scheme, which in spite of its implausibility, builds into a lot of fun comedy. The reversal of marital roles between Young and Revere is also delightfully fun, her imperiousness delightfully over-acting in a manner appropriate to the character.
It all starts when Goddard schemes her way into the position of secretary to MacMurray, a businessman all the factory workers (including Goddard) say "ooh la la" about every time he walks through. Goddard is sent upstairs, apparently to be fired, but when she sees the perfect situation to take on the job of MacMurray's secretary, she grabs it. Of course, she's not the brightest bulb in the secretarial pool, forgetting MacMurray's brief case in the cab on their way to Grand Central, then canceling their hotel room by mistake. She finds them a place to stay, but as live-in housekeeper and butler to a bizarre couple played by Roland Young and Anne Revere. Young is the stay-at-home husband and Revere is in the military, so their marriage is far from normal. MacMurray is anxious to meet with D.C. businessman Clarence Kolb who ends up being a guest at their employer, giving an in to making a deal with him.
This sprightly comedy is a fast moving romp with Goddard and MacMurray as memorable as they were in 1942's "The Forest Rangers". She's not a gold-digger or good time girl here, just a screwball romantic type that is also a bit of a klutz. He, of course, starts off as the serious type who lightens a lot as the film goes forward, finding fun in Goddard's silly scheme, which in spite of its implausibility, builds into a lot of fun comedy. The reversal of marital roles between Young and Revere is also delightfully fun, her imperiousness delightfully over-acting in a manner appropriate to the character.