Behind Office Doors
About Behind Office Doors
Mary Linden, a receptionist at a paper mill, knows the business better than her title suggests and is in love with salesman James Duneen. She steers sales his way and works to have him named president when Ritter retires. James is grateful and does not notice. He prefers party girls. He gets the job and makes Mary his secretary, then hires his latest girlfriend, Daisy, to work under her. Mary turns down Ronnie Wales, a rich married man separated from his wife. When James becomes engaged to banker's daughter Ellen May Robinson, Mary quits and agrees to go to Atlantic City with Ronnie. The mill falters without her. James finds her before she gives in to Ronnie. He has broken the engagement. He asks her to come back, and he asks her to marry him.
Cast & crew
More about Behind Office Doors
Melville W. Brown directed. Carey Wilson wrote the screenplay and J. Walter Ruben the adaptation and dialogue, from Alan Schultz's 1929 novel Private Secretary. J. Roy Hunt photographed it. Max Steiner wrote the music. An alternate title is Private Secretary.
Themes
Background
A 1931 RKO pre-Code drama from the novel Private Secretary, about the woman who makes an executive's career.
Making
RKO cast Astor as the secretary who actually runs the sales and Ames as the man who gets the credit.
Reviews
English Wikipedia says the film was not well received by critics, while the box office was strong. No dollar figure is given.
Look
J. Roy Hunt photographed the mill offices and the Atlantic City trip.
Music
Max Steiner wrote the score.
Preservation
The film survives on the Internet Archive and Wikimedia Commons.
Notes
- Mary Astor plays Mary Linden. Robert Ames plays James Duneen. Ricardo Cortez plays Ronnie Wales.
- Catherine Dale Owen plays Ellen May Robinson. Edna Murphy plays Daisy. Charles Sellon plays Ritter.
- English Wikipedia says critics did not like the film and that it did well at the box office.
- It is one of six films in which Astor and Cortez both appear.
Scenes
- Mary gets James named president and he still does not see her.
- She leaves for Atlantic City with Ronnie. James reaches her and proposes.
Influenced by
- Alan Schultz's novel Private Secretary (1929)
Also available
- Internet Archive (BehindOfficeDoors)
- Wikimedia Commons (Behind Office Doors, 1931.ogv)
