Beauty and the Boss

Directed by Roy Del Ruth, Beauty and the Boss details the relationship that eventually forms between a commanding businessman (Warren William’s Josef von Ullrich) and his scrappy, ambitious secretary (Marian Marsh’s Susie Sachs). Filmmaker Del Ruth, working from Joseph Jackson’s screenplay, delivers a meandering and mostly uninvolving endeavor that’s made all-the-more underwhelming by its shapeless narrative, as the movie, which runs a short-yet-not-short-enough 66 minutes, suffers from a lack of forward momentum that’s alleviated only sporadically – with Marsh’s admittedly compelling turn certainly remaining an ongoing highlight within the otherwise unremarkable proceedings. By the time the upbeat (yet curiously unsatisfying) finale rolls around, Beauty and the Boss has confirmed its place as a misfire that generally squanders the agreeable efforts of its various performers – which is a shame, certainly, given the potential afforded by the somewhat promising setup.

** out of ****