If Charles Martin's wisecracking 1948 period-piece My Dear Secretary hasn't quite endured as a classic of its kind, it still commands attention as an appealing and often very funny curiosity. Kirk Douglas rightly earned his status as one of the titans of big-screen epic drama, so it's a surprise to encounter him in this romantic comedy as a feckless writer who can always find something to do rather than get down to work, leaving a string of outraged, frustrated or compromised secretaries in his wake. Douglas has a reasonably light comic touch and spars well with Laraine... Day, in determined form as the secretary whom finally tames him and, in a notable strike for women's liberation, becomes a successful author herself in the process. But this is a film in which the supporting cast steal the best lines and scenes. Keenan Wynn is delightful as Ronnie, Douglas' neighbour and partner in the pursuit of pleasure. Some splendid high campery offers ample evidence that in a more enlightened age, Ronnie would surely have been openly gay. How else to explain his hilarious last reel marriage of convenience to the wealthy dragon of a landlady, played by the irrepressible Florence Bates? It isn't vintage screwball by any means, but My Dear Secretary is witty and literate enough to make you long for a revival in sophisticated cinema comedy. Truly, they don't make 'em like they used to. On the DVD: As the rush to release long-forgotten gems on DVD turns into a deluge, we will probably have to get used to the sort of disappointment on offer here: unrestored prints with no digital remastering and lousy sound quality, simply slammed onto the disc. The film could hardly be served less adequately. There isn't even any static background information on the production or the actors, making the package rather poor. --Piers Ford [show more]
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