AFTER OFFICE HOURS

US, 1935, 72 minutes, Black and white.
Clark Gable, Constance Bennett, Billie Burke.
Directed by Robert Z.Leonard.

An early Clark Gable’ film and interesting to see him performing in a comic role. It is quite reminiscent of Too Hot to Handle in which he was a tough newsreel maker. Here he is a newspaper editor and reporter, pleasantly unscrupulous in seeking out a story, using people. He is, however, still presented as a thirties' hero. The material of the screen play is conventional enough: work on a paper, the comradeship of various people on the paper, the rich heiress wanting to work.

There is also what looks a rather unlikely murder mystery amongst rich society people. Gable detects and reveals the truth. The screenplay looks rather creaky now but moves along at a fairly smart pace. The film is interesting in its style, black and white photography, M.G.M. production values. However, it reflects the interest of audiences in the depression years, the look at rich society and presuppositions about it. It also embodies the screwball comedy traditions and the always entertaining battle of the sexes where men were clearly men and women very feminine even though trying to be tough. In this way, such films are interesting to look at as reflecting the presuppositions of the thirties.