Female (1933)

Synopsis: In Michael Curtiz's romantic comedy FEMALE, Ruth Chatterton plays Alison Drake, the iron-fisted president of a motorcar company. Alison oversees the daily operations of her male employees with a... In Michael Curtiz's romantic comedy FEMALE, Ruth Chatterton plays Alison Drake, the iron-fisted president of a motorcar company. Alison oversees the daily operations of her male employees with a predatory gaze and frequently exercises her right to engage with them in any way she deems fit. She meets her match in an equally strong-minded new employee, Jim Thorne (George Brent), and the two engage in a smoldering, contentious, sexually charged duel. The action of the film--one of the first to depict a female character turning a man's world to her advantage--feeds on the novelty of presenting a woman as a corporate shark and bedroom hound. Though it's obvious the filmmakers thought they were creating a scenario that would never actually happen, Alison's world-smashing exploits make the bulk of the film (before she begins to question her nontraditional lifestyle) a protofeminist romp. Brent and Chatterton were married at the time they made the film, and the natural chemistry between them is abundantly evident. Curtiz (THE CHARGE OF THE LIGHT BRIGADE) packs the screen with extravagant set design and period detail. [More]

Starring: Ruth Chatterton, George Brent, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Philip Faversham

Starring: Ruth Chatterton, George Brent, Ferdinand Gottschalk, Philip Faversham, Ruth Donnelly, Lois Wilson, Gavin Gordon, Johnny Mack Brown, Douglass Dumbrille

Director: Michael Curtiz

Director: Michael Curtiz
Screenwriter: Gene Markey, Kathryn Scola, William A. Wellman
Composer: Leo F. Forbstein

[See More Credits]