...but you just can't help yourself. William is perfect here as an efficient German bank president and baron, totally consumed with business by day and with romancing the ladies -lots of them - at night. He only has problems when his two interests converge. This usually occurs because he has a beautiful secretary. His usual solution - to fire the secretary and get her out of his business life, and then make her one of his many mistresses.

The baron tires of this repetitive problem, and vows that his next secretary will be a plain practical woman for whom he will have no attraction. So into his life walks Susie Sachs (Marian Marsh), "the church mouse". The cutest scene of the film is where Susie tricks her way into see the baron and tells him about the plight of her class -"the mice" - the unemployed and hungry. The baron is quite interested in her story. You see, he is not such a bad guy. It just never occurred to him that there might be a girl of her age in Germany more interested in a good meal than a diamond bracelet. He's never seen that side of life and therefore not given it much thought. He hires her, and she works out quite well for him until a business trip to Paris brings the Baron quite a few surprises.

This film was really a delight with very good dialogue and animated performances. Charles Butterworth is really quite good as comic support in these early Warner Brothers talkies. He plays the baron's assistant who is constantly writing down instructions on his cuffs and seems to have no objections when he is told he will be working all night and won't be allowed time to eat. David Manners plays the baron's younger brother who sees the beauty in Susie even when she is playing the frump.

Although it betrays its theater-script origins in the rhythm of the performances and dialogue, this sparkling little formula comedy about a secretary who wins a rich Baron is chockablock with snappy retorts and racy rejoinders. Marian Marsh is adorable, charming and always convincing.

The surprising candor of the script is refreshing: despite the free modern use of more explicit language, this depression-era tale leaves nothing to the imagination. Its honesty is surprising and heightens the humor of the gentle jokes.

Watching scenes played out between Marsh and Warren William with such genuine engagement would be impossible in the modern era of frenetic jump-cutting. What a treat to see talented performers do such naughty and giggly scenes in a single take with hardly a cutaway or interruption in sight!

Clearly a pun on "Beauty and the Beast".... this early talkie is so under-rated. It's just before the Hays code started being enforced, and the clever banter gets quite saucy. Warren William (from the Lone Wolf films) is the all-business, hardworking company president, who has no time for the flirtations of his secretaries, first Mary Doran, then Marian Marsh. It turns into a kind of competition between the two girls, after a confrontation. Doran is "Ollie", who uses her wit, wiles, and low-cut dresses to try to lure in the Baron. Susie (Marsh) tries to take the high road at first, but sees how easy it is to make men swoon with Ollie's naughty girlie ways. Charles Butterworth is here as the office manager, and has all the best lines. That dry, sarcastic wit, which he brought from his vaudeville days, usually muttered under his breath. He was only 36 in this film, but wow, he always looked old as dirt. Frederick Kerr is the Baron's sidekick, but doesn't really add much to the story. It's fun being an observer, to see who will "win" the prize. Story by Hungarian Ladislas Fodor, and the foreign currency and other words creep into the conversation. Directed by Roy Del Ruth, who had been around since the early days of silents, and successfully moved into talkies. This one is a lot of fun. Doesn't seem to have been shown often on TCM, with only 300 votes. Warner packed a lot into 66 minutes, and it moves right along. Recommended ! Catch it if you can. Warner Brother archives HAS released this on DVD...

Warren William and Marian Marsh sparkle in this delicious Vitaphone production. Ms. Marsh handles the role of a dowdy but wise secretary with great aplomb, she's delightful! William (the star with two first names) is charming as the playboy baron with an amorous secretary on every phone line. Charles Butterworth adds to the fun with his usual hijinks. This one's a keeper!

"Beauty and the Boss" is a 1932 film starring Warren William, Marian Marsh, and David Manners. Since it's precode, it's filled with innuendo. William plays a Viennese bank president who is easily distracted by his secretary, so distracted, in fact, that he fires her. Times were different, but maybe not - in 2013, a similar incident made national news, as one did in 2010.

As soon as his secretary has been dismissed, a young woman crashes into his office demanding a job. She's hungry and supporting her mother and her dog. Impressed with her steno skills, he hires her. She falls for him and quietly sabotages a few of his relationships.

This film was a big hit so Marsh and William were paired up again but with less success. Marian Marsh is of course adorable, and William is his usually cad-like self. Handsome David Manners, who plays his brother, is charming.

Cute comedy, not as brazen as "Baby Face" or other precodes, but fun just the same.

Originally entitled The Church Mouse in New York, London, and Paris where it began as a play by Ladislas Fodor, Beauty And The Boss is an average comedy with a few good laughs about a wealthy man who can't decide whether he wants efficiency or eye candy as female employees. The play ran a respectable 164 performances on Broadway in the 1931-32 season for the Depression and the most prominent name in the cast was that of Ruth Gordon.

Warren William is the French industrial tycoon with this terrible dilemma and when he finds he can't concentrate on his business because he finds stenographer Mary Doran too attractive he fires Doran. There won't be that problem with Marian Marsh however who dresses down and dowdy so much that she's called a church mouse. But she's set her cap for William and she'll do whatever it takes to nail him.

Rounding out this European comedy of manners is David Manners as William's fun loving brother, they're much like the Larrabee brothers in Sabrina. There's also Frederic Kerr as a count with a roving eye and the ever droll Charles Butterworth who for me is always a pleasure to watch in anything.

The material cast has to work with is pretty thin, but they rise to the occasion and while Beauty And The Boss will never be rated as one of the great comedies of the Thirties it will give a few good laughs to anyone who views it.

About a bank president who talks about putting a new rule into the company: "all females must wear long sleeves and high necks". Seems he is easily distracted by women, particularly his attractive and flirtatious secretary who he thinks is a "playgirl" rather than working girl, good for after hours only. He actually fires her - and she doesn't mind, 'cause she apparently agrees with this after hours concept, and becomes one of his new girlfriends (there seem to be many others too, judging by the office visits and phone calls from bathtubs he keeps getting). Soon a young waif arrives - hungry and oddly dressed in an outfit that includes black umbrella and flat black hat with a big white feather in it (why do these poor waif girls in old movies always seem to wear an odd feathered hat?). Well, seems she's an out-of-work stenographer looking to get hired - and turns out she's a whiz who loves work too, spending her free time toning her secretarial skills rather than dating men, she takes shorthand at 150 words a minute! He hires her on the spot since she's "plain" - seems even though she is clearly very pretty, he for some reason (like often seen in movies) can't see her beauty through the odd outfit. Well, she falls for him and soon blooms!

This is a thoroughly entertaining, fast paced, fun-to-watch film with lots of amusing pre-code banter and top-notch performances adding to the mix - I loved it. Warren William, one of my favorite actors from this time period, is just perfect as the rather handsome but stiff "girl crazy" boss, and Marian Marsh as the waif (who I thought looked like Reese Witherspoon in the earlier scenes) is just SO cute and charming - I really enjoyed her performance. Cute scene where she gets "taught" by the previous secretary how to seduce a man via accidentally-on-purpose leaning against him, and she tries it out on the boss. Really excellent film.

Is always required in an office situation. In this film, Warren William (The Baron) is a super-rich businessman who has no time for play during work hours. So, how he gets around his selection of attractive secretaries is to fire them if they are good-looking and then casually date them whilst keeping them on a retainer salary for 6 months. It's a perfect set-up. In walks Marian Marsh (Susie) looking for a job and she is the perfect secretary as he doesn't find her attractive. She looks poor and doesn't wear make-up. She isn't a distraction and proves herself super-efficient at her duties. However, she wants more. She can also make herself look attractive.

This is a comedy that is funny and points out a few truths about men and women although the politically correct mob will be horrified. Ha ha. Live with it. All characters do well in this short film and it's a pretty racy pre-code offering. Marian Marsh plays a kind of Mary Poppins role. Warren Williams really does have office life sussed - a good role model. However, Poppins arrives and makes some changes. Her main rival comes in the shape of previous secretary Mary Doran (Ollie) and these two have some funny interactions that are also fraught with tension.

Anyone for a box of carrots? Good for Marian.

One of the very first boss falls for secretary films, but fresh, original, and wonderfully acted and scripted. Warren William is young but just as dapper and sophisticated as in later roles. I have never seen the female lead -- secretary -- before, but she is very pretty and a good comedic actress. One of the best parts is the way she keeps turning the tables on WW as the boss, first with super efficiency and later by doing what he commands, literally. It is set in Europe at the height of the worldwide depression, and it shows how well some of the rich -- those who were lucky enough not to be heavily invested in the preceding stock market mania -- were living, while others struggled. Seeing how people lived then, some 70 years ago, is always interesting.

Director Roy Del Ruth serves up a little inappropriate office behavior and an at attitude towards women that's hopelessly outdated in this minor pre-Code effort, but I confess I liked it nonetheless. Warren William is in one of his usual roles, that of a powerful businessman, and we first see him working with his attractive secretary, played by Mary Doran. As she takes dictation, he can't help but be distracted by her, and after he ogles at and comments on each part of her body, fires her because he feels she makes him less efficient. She asks "why blame me?" for his issues but the question isn't answered, and she doesn't seem to mind too much anyway. He tells her that now he can pursue her in his personal time, and call her up when he's in an "improper mood," which makes her happy. (There is a lot of male fantasy going on in this one, folks).

We then are introduced to Marian Marsh's character, who we first see looking through the window of a restaurant at a guy while he's trying to eat, her hunger apparent, a reference common during films made during the Depression. She soon shoehorns her way into the secretary job after showing William's character just what a whirlwind she can be in the office, efficiently managing phone calls and taking dictation with lightning speed. She's also in plain clothes and no makeup, so therefore not physically appealing to him. He likes her for being an automaton, but secretly she harbors a desire for him and to be "irresistible to men," and therein lies the rub, especially since he asks her to do things like pick out flowers for his ex-secretary.

Naturally, with a few tips, a beautiful gown, and some make-up, presto/change-o, she's beautiful, and he suddenly notices her in "that way." How many times have we seen this in a film? Anyway, after some seduction and impassioned speeches, he's soon worked up so much that he's literally chasing her around a grand piano, a scene given to us with a nice overhead shot. The boss has other options, including a woman who keeps phoning him up from her bathtub and his ex-secretary, who makes it clear that she's available for him. In her low-cut, shimmery dress, she says "Can't you see? I'm hanging over your head like a ripe peach. If only you'd give the tree a little shake" ... but despite those options, you can kind of see where this one's going.

It's a fine cast here - Doran and Marsh are both appealing, William is solid as always, and there are several good supporting actors, including David Manners and Charles Butterworth, the latter of whom has several funny little moments, delivering droll one-liners, dancing the tango with a flourish, and pretending to walk a tightrope with an umbrella after a night of drinking. I may be rounding up a bit in my score, as this is a pretty simple film. Whizzing by at just 66 minutes is both a blessing and a curse, and it would have been nice if this one had had a little more depth, or amplified its pre-Code naughtiness. It's an interesting (and possibly infuriating) window into the period though.

Viennese banker and baron Warren William fires stenographer Mary Doran and hires her as one of his numerous girl friends. He plans on only male secretaries to avoid distraction, but Marian Marsh creeps into his office in a ridiculous hat and efficient manner. At least until they go to Paris.

Miss Marsh' manner of speaking reminds me of a telegraph key, and I find it annoying, but that's clearly part of the plan by director Roy Del Ruth to take the staccato dialogue direction at Warner Brothers and speed it up. That's probably why, while most Warners urban comedies times in at slightly north of 75 minutes, this is a crisp 66. Slow Miss Marsh to the speaking rate of, say, Glenda Farrell, and that's ten minutes right there. Charles Butterworth has some good lines and almost dances the tango; Frederick Kerr is an elderly rake and partner at the bank, and David Manners is there because he's under contract to the studio. With Robert Greig, Lilian Bond, and Yola D'Avril in a bath tub.

Beauty and the Boss was a delightful movie with some very subtle humor and frank interfacing between the competing beauties. The rapid dialog between the Count and his prospective secretary was a pleasure in wittiness and abstract humor. This movie promised a bright career.

Marian Marsh was a beautiful young lady, but what struck me was a resemblance to a later actress, Jane Powell when she was of that age. It was a shame the studios did not hold on to her for better roles but I guess it was the depression and they were interested in churning out low budget movies and constantly showing new faces. Ms. Marsh did show considerable talent, artistically before the cameras, at quite a young age. Considering her young age it seems the studios could have been more understanding when they did not pick up her contract while they were having disagreements over a bad performing movie.

While "Beauty and the Boss" isn't a total loss - no movie with Warren William and Charles Butterworth could be - it's darn close, and the fault, dear Brutus, lies with its leading lady, Marion Marsh.

I'm a connoisseur of bad performances, and always held Wheeler Oakman's wooden acting in "Lights of New York" as the gold standard, but Marsh has taken the title in a first-round knockout.

Either director Roy Del Ruth was too busy to direct Marsh or was deliberately trying to end her contract, but the decision to let her speak all her lines as rapidly and with as little inflection as possible was fatal. Every time she's on screen, she kills the picture with her lack of ability to act.

Mary Doran, who plays the "other woman" is so far superior to her in terms of personality and intelligence that it's baffling how William's character throws her over for such a dimwit.

I blame Del Ruth, ultimately. Any director who let Marsh get away with that performance -and- cuts away from Butterworth doing the tango is clearly having a bad time of it.

Rapid fire dialog rips through this charming pre code gem so fast you'll have to put down your iPhone to enjoy. Marian Marsh shines and Warren William is offensive and hilarious.

No big stars in this one but still a very entertaining little film. Marsh and Doran are two women who go after Warren William in very different ways. Butterworth is good in his usual comic relief role. A charming and fast-moving movie.

I'm amazed this film isn't rated higher than 6.8! It's a fast-paced gem with snappy dialogue and terrific performances.

As another reviewer noted, this may be one of the first, if not THE first, film in which the big boss (played with dismissive invective and pure slime by the excellent Warren William) falls for his secretary (played with ultra-efficiency and rapid fire dialogue by ugly duckling Marian Marsh) by the end of the film.

The old boss-loves-secretary scenario plays fresh and funny here, setting a standard that subsequent films fail to capture.

I was surprised how much I truly enjoyed "Beauty and the Boss", and I highly recommend it. It is laugh-out-loud funny!

If you need me, I'll be working on some research!

This noticeably pre-code comedy has a great cast and really entertains. Warren William plays the Baron---a very successful Viennese businessman who is a devout womanizer. Recognizing his weakness for the fairer sex, he is committed to having a secretary who is not very attractive or flirty. On the other hand, his personal life is overflowing with sexy women vying for his attention.

Susie Sachs, a mousy young woman who really needs a job, wheedles her way into the Baron's secretarial position by being as efficient and selfless as an automaton and as undesirable as an adding machine. Played remarkably by Marian Marsh with rapid-fire delivery, Susie turns out to be a surprise. Her all-business façade might have emotional underpinnings after all.

The source material for this film is a play and the ending is play-like and delightful.

I love pretty much anything with Warren William but had never seen anything with Marian Marsh before. She is delightful. It's a fun romp that doesn't tax the brain with over complicated plot lines but isn't a boring romance either. Predictable yes but when they do it with such sparkle and style - who cares.

Without a doubt, this movie has to be the basis of the movie "Sabrina" (1954) starring Humphrey Bogart and Audrey Hepburn. The similarities are too uncanny.

The main character is Baron Josef von Ullrich (Warren William). He is a stern, bossy, and busy president of a Vienna bank. He never asks for anything, he only demands. When his savvy secretary, Ollie Frey (Mary Doran), used her feminine wiles while taking dictation he fired her so that he could then see her romantically. It was a ploy of hers that worked all too well.

Replacing Ollie was the young, hungry (figuratively and literally) Susie Sachs (Marian Marsh). She was creative, assertive, and the best secretary to ever hold a pencil. She was a machine. She got the job by sheer will and determination. She showed Baron Josef how unparalleled she was at the job and how indispensable she would be. He hired her right there on the spot. She was professional, eager, excellent at the job, and she wasn't a sexual distraction as Ollie was with her low cut blouses and rising skirts.

Susie acted with the utmost professionalism, but she had feelings too. She had feelings for the Baron that showed themselves in little noticeable ways. If she was going to get his attention though, she'd need to learn the womanly tricks of the trade.

Like I said, this has to have been the basis for "Sabrina" and I really enjoyed that movie. And as much as I enjoyed "Sabrina," "Beauty and the Boss" was better. The rapid fire dialog between Susie and Baron Josef was amusing and entertaining and you couldn't help but like the two characters: the Baron because of his bossy yet lenient behavior and Susie because she was the underdog.

"Beauty and the Boss" had a wonderful script, a great compliment of characters, and excellent execution.

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