''Employees' Entrance'' is a 1933

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

film about the devious manager of a New York department store (

Warren William Warren William (born Warren William Krech; December 2, 1894 – September 24, 1948) was a Broadway and Hollywood actor, immensely popular during the early 1930s; he was later nicknamed the "King of Pre-Code". He was the first actor to play Pe ...

) and his romantic involvement with a reluctant new employee (

Loretta Young Loretta Young (born Gretchen Young; January 6, 1913 – August 12, 2000) was an American actress. Starting as a child, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953. She won the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in the fil ...

). It was directed by

Roy Del Ruth Roy Del Ruth (October 18, 1893, Delaware – April 27, 1961) was an American filmmaker. Early career Beginning his Hollywood career as a writer for Mack Sennett in 1915, Del Ruth later directed his first short film ''Hungry Lions'' (1919) ...

. In 2019, the film was selected by the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The libra ...

for preservation in the

National Film Registry The National Film Registry (NFR) is the United States National Film Preservation Board's (NFPB) collection of films selected for preservation, each selected for its historical, cultural and aesthetic contributions since the NFPB’s inception ...

for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

Kurt Anderson is the ruthless, hard-driving general manager of the Monroe department store. The store is a financial powerhouse because of Anderson's brutally efficient strategies and

autocratic Autocracy is a system of government in which absolute power over a state is concentrated in the hands of one person, whose decisions are subject neither to external legal restraints nor to regularized mechanisms of popular control (except per ...

leadership. When a new clothing supplier, Garfinkle, tells Anderson that part of the large first order will be delayed three days because of labor trouble, Anderson cancels the order and instructs his secretary to sue for damages. Garfinkle is ruined, but Anderson doesn't care. After closing, Anderson overhears Madeline Walters playing a store piano. Broke and unemployed, she is going to apply to work at Monroe's first thing in the morning. When she finds out who he is, she allows herself to succumb to his power and artificial charm, which ensures she gets a job as a model in the clothing department. With the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

cutting into the store's business, Anderson demands new ideas from his department heads. When Martin West comes up with an innovative idea, Higgins, the longtime head of men's clothing does not approve; but Anderson is impressed. He promptly tells Martin to go ahead, and fires Higgins. Seeing promise in West, Anderson makes him his assistant. He tells his new protégé that he must devote himself completely to business and nothing else if he is to get ahead; he asks if Martin is married, and is relieved when the answer is no. Anderson, a compulsive

philanderer Promiscuity is the practice of engaging in sexual activity frequently with different partners or being indiscriminate in the choice of sexual partners. The term can carry a moral judgment. A common example of behavior viewed as promiscuous by ma ...

, holds women in contempt, believing that all they seek is financial security and control over their husbands. He views marital commitment as incompatible with running a successful business. However, unbeknownst to Anderson, Martin and Madeleine have fallen in love. He tells her that he cannot marry until his position is more secure, but, on an impulse, does so anyway, though he keeps it a secret from Anderson. This puts a strain on the marriage. Anderson doubles the salary of employee Polly Dale, (

Alice White Alice White (born Alva White; August 25, 1904Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. , pg. 1228. – February 19, 1983) was an American film ac ...

), to keep his nominal overseer, Denton Ross, occupied, leaving him a free hand to manage the store without interference. Higgins tries repeatedly to see Anderson to ask for his job back, but fails. Finally Higgins commits suicide by jumping out of a ninth floor store window. Martin is dismayed when Anderson is unperturbed by the news. After the Wests quarrel at the annual office party about Martin's neglect of her, Anderson finds a vulnerable Madeleine alone and gets her drunk on champagne. When she decides to leave, he offers the inebriated Madeleine his upstairs hotel suite to rest and to clear her head. After she falls asleep on the bed, he enters the room and rapes her. The next day, an embarrassed Madeleine insists that Anderson leave her alone. During their heated conversation, she lets slip that she is married to Martin. After she quits and threatens to take her husband with her, Anderson tries to get Polly to seduce Martin, but she refuses. He then has Martin eavesdrop on the intercom while he summons Madeleine to his office. Martin learns of the times Madeleine slept with Anderson. Madeleine unsuccessfully attempts suicide with poison, prompting a furious Martin to confront and threaten to kill his boss. Anderson, facing his own dismissal by cautious bankers afraid of his expensive plans, dares him to do it, even providing a gun. Martin shoots, but only inflicts a minor wound. When employees dash in, Anderson acts as if nothing had happened: Martin quits. Ross manages to contact the store's frequently absent owner, Commodore Franklin Monroe, and gets his proxy just in time for the vote of the board of 40 directors. Anderson keeps his job. Polly, having just been told to pick out a new wardrobe so Anderson can take her to Paris, comes in with her dog, only to learn the holiday is off and to return the duds. She flounces out in a huff, leaving the dog, whom Anderson deposits in a waste basket. He promotes Garfinkle, embittered and now just as ruthless as him, to be his new assistant; Garfinkle says he will try to ruin him. Anderson fully approves of the attitude change. The film ends with Anderson experiencing neither redemption nor punishment.

Cast

as Kurt Anderson *

as Madeleine Walters West *

Wallace Ford Wallace Ford (born Samuel Grundy Jones; 12 February 1898 – 11 June 1966) was an English-born naturalized American vaudevillian, stage performer and screen actor. Usually playing wise-cracking characters, he combined a tough but friendly-fac ...

as Martin West *

as Polly Dale *

Hale Hamilton Hale Rice Hamilton (February 28, 1880 – May 19, 1942) was an American actor, writer and producer. Biography Hamilton was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1880. (His birth year is sometimes listed as either 1879 or 1883.) Hamilton's Broadway debut w ...

as Commodore Franklin Monroe *

Albert Gran Albert Gran (August 4, 1862 – December 16, 1932) was a Norwegian-born American stage and film actor. He is most associated with his appearance in drama and light comedy films. Biography Albert Gran was born in Bergen, Norway. He was the s ...

as Denton Ross * Marjorie Gateson as Mrs. Lee Hickox, a customer apprehended by mistake as a shoplifter *

Ruth Donnelly Ruth Donnelly (May 17, 1896 – November 17, 1982) was an American film and stage actress. Early years and family Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Donnelly was the daughter of Harry Augustus and Bessie B. Donnelly. Her uncle, Freder ...

as Miss Hall, Anderson's secretary *

Frank Reicher Frank Reicher (born Franz Reicher; December 2, 1875 – January 19, 1965) was a German-born American actor, director and producer. He is best known for playing Captain Englehorn in the 1933 film ''King Kong''. Early life Reicher was born in Mu ...

as Garfinkle *

Charles Sellon Charles A. Sellon (August 24, 1870 – June 26, 1937) was an American stage and film actor. Sellon appeared in more than 100 films and stage acts between 1901 and 1935. He played the blind Mr. Muckle in W. C. Fields' comedy ''It's a Gift'' ...

as Arnold Higgins *

Allen Jenkins Allen Curtis Jenkins (born Alfred McGonegal; April 9, 1900 – July 20, 1974) was an American character actor and singer who worked on stage, film, and television. Life and career Jenkins was born on Staten Island, New York, on April 9, 1900. ...

as Sweeney, a store detective (uncredited) * Zita Moulton as Marion

Production

Warren William was not originally cast in the lead role, he replaced

, who ended up playing a smaller part, but

Edward G. Robinson Edward G. Robinson (born Emanuel Goldenberg; December 12, 1893January 26, 1973) was a Romanian-American actor of stage and screen, who was popular during the Hollywood's Golden Age. He appeared in 30 Broadway plays and more than 100 films duri ...

had also been offered the lead.Cady, Brian
"Employees' Entrance (1933)" (article)
TCM.com The film took 23 days for principal photography. Although Alice White had been a major star for Warners at the time that silent films were giving way to sound pictures, by the time of ''Employees' Entrance'' her star had faded when the

flapper Flappers were a subculture of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts (knee height was considered short during that period), bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptab ...

craze abated. Her supporting role here garnered good reviews and sent her onto the comeback trail, but a scandal later in 1933 returned her to being a supporting actor.

References

External links

* * * * {{Roy Del Ruth 1933 films 1933 drama films American black-and-white films American business films American drama films American films based on plays 1930s English-language films Films directed by Roy Del Ruth Films set in department stores Films set in New York City Warner Bros. films United States National Film Registry films 1930s American films

Plot

Cast

Production

See also

References

External links