Directed by:
William A. SeiterScreenplay:
Gladys LehmanCinematography:
Milton R. KrasnerComposer:
Frank SkinnerCast:
Rosalind Russell, Brian Aherne, Virginia Bruce, Robert Benchley, John Carroll, Hobart Cavanaugh, Richard Lane, William B. Davidson, Rolfe Sedan, Janet Shaw (more)Plots(1)
Kendal Browning not only loves her job as secretary, she’s also in love with her boss, Stephen Dexter. So she’s not happy about his seasonal habit of pursuing blondes whenever spring fever strikes him. His latest romantic entanglement is with model Phyllis Walden. When Stephen’s concrete company is threatened with a hostile takeover, his lawyers advise getting married and putting his assets in his wife’s name. But when he sends Kendal to tender his marriage proposal to Phyllis, the secretary is prepared to use devious means to thwart the romance. Kendal presents the proposal in such a way that Phyllis can only reject it – forcing Stephen to say “I do” to his secretary. Any chance of newlywed harmony comes to an abrupt end when Kendal confesses her scheme to Stephen. Initially setting his sights on a quick divorce, he then realises that his bride owns all his assets, which she uses to hang on to the man of her dreams … In Hired Wife, Russell holds the reins firmly in hand, not only taming her boss, but leading a penniless gigolo to marital bliss, in a kind of sneak peek at the “outstanding career woman of the year” Russell would go on to play in What a Woman! (1943). (Berlinale)
(more)Cast
Rosalind Russell
USA
Best movies:
His Girl Friday (1940)
The Citadel (1938)
China Seas (1935)
Brian Aherne
UK
Best movies:
Underground (1928)
Juarez (1939)
I Confess (1953)
Virginia Bruce
USA
Best movies:
Strangers When We Meet (1960)
The Great Ziegfeld (1936)
The Love Parade (1929)
Robert Benchley
USA
Best movies:
You'll Never Get Rich (1941)
The Major and the Minor (1942)
China Seas (1935)
John Carroll
USA
Best movies:
Only Angels Have Wings (1939)
Go West (1940)
Monte Carlo (1930)
Hobart Cavanaugh
USA
Best movies:
A Midsummer Night's Dream (1935)
Captain Blood (1935)
The House of Fear (1945)
Richard Lane
USA
Best movies:
Hellzapoppin' (1941)
Bringing Up Baby (1938)
Union Pacific (1939)
William B. Davidson
USA
Best movies:
Scarface (1932)
Gentleman Jim (1942)
The Most Dangerous Game (1932)
Rolfe Sedan
USA
Best movies:
The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)
Flesh and the Devil (1926)
Ninotchka (1939)
Janet Shaw
USA
Best movies:
Waterloo Bridge (1940)
Jezebel (1938)
The Adventures of Robin Hood (1938)
William H. O'Brien
Australia
Best movies:
Some Like It Hot (1959)
The Mysterious Lady (1928)
The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
Dale Van Sickel
USA
Best movies:
North by Northwest (1959)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Mr. Deeds Goes to Town (1936)
Pierre Watkin
USA
Best movies:
Song of Love (1947)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Max Wagner
Mexico
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
To Kill a Mockingbird (1962)
Gino Corrado
Italy
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
Sunrise (1927)
Fury (1936)
Jack Chefe
Russian Empire
Best movies:
Miracle of Fatima (1952)
It Started with Eve (1941)
All About Eve (1950)
Ralph Brooks
USA
Best movies:
Love Crazy (1941)
After the Thin Man (1936)
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Larry Steers
USA
Best movies:
Love Crazy (1941)
The Gold Rush (1925)
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
Cyril Ring
USA
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
Edison, the Man (1940)
The Roaring Twenties (1939)
Virginia Brissac
USA
Best movies:
Monsieur Verdoux (1947)
Strike Up the Band (1940)
The Little Foxes (1941)