Should Wives Work? (1937)

This might have worked better on stage with doors slamming and beds creaking, but as a film it’s comically over-stretched. “Leon” (Leon Errol) tells his wife (Vivien Oakland) to go back to work so she can afford to indulge her penchant for hats and he can his fondness for a round of golf when he should be at work. When he does finally turn up in the office, he sees his colleague fired for having his wife work for the company - an absolute no-no! “Leon” is offered the promotion but when he realises just who his boss has employed as his new secretary, both of their jobs are in jeopardy. To make matters worse, he wants him to bring his wife to his home that evening and for his secretary to accompany them to take notes. Talk about split personalities? The seeds are now sewn for a some frantic mayhem; they miss the last train and finally Mrs boss gets completely the wrong idea when someone is caught under a bed. To be fair, it’s break-neck stuff that rarely comes up for air, but after about five minutes it has really laboured the joke and became a bit too cringey. Next time, maybe just give her the $10?