IMDb > My Dear Secretary (1949)

My Dear Secretary (1949) More at IMDbPro »


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Overview

User Rating:
5.9/10   320 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
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Director:
Writer:
Charles Martin (written by)
Contact:
View company contact information for My Dear Secretary on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
12 January 1949 (USA) more
Genre:
Tagline:
He chased her . . . 'til she caught him!
Plot:
Owen Waterbury, bestselling novelist, recruits aspiring writer Stephanie 'Steve' Gaylord as his latest of many secretaries... more | add synopsis
User Comments:
Enjoyable Comedy; Fun To Watch more (13 total)

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)
Laraine Day ... Stephanie 'Steve' Gaylord

Kirk Douglas ... Owen Waterbury
Keenan Wynn ... Ronnie Hastings
Helen Walker ... Elsie (Waterbury's former secretary)
Rudy Vallee ... Charles Harris (Harris Book Stores)
Florence Bates ... Horrible Hannah Reeve (the landlady)
Alan Mowbray ... Deveny (Bryant Detective Agency)
Irene Ryan ... Mary (Waterbury's housekeeper)
Gale Robbins ... Dawn O'Malley (The Untouchable Secretary)
Grady Sutton ... Sylvan Scott (writing student)
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Additional Details

Runtime:
94 min
Country:
Language:
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (RCA Sound System)
Certification:

Fun Stuff

Quotes:
Ronnie Hastings: Is it informal, or shall I bathe? more

FAQ

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2 out of 2 people found the following comment useful.
Enjoyable Comedy; Fun To Watch, 25 February 2008
7/10
Author: sddavis63 (revsdd@gmail.com) from Niagara Region, Ontario, Canada

The stars of this movie are supposed to be Kirk Douglas and Laraine Day, but it's worth saying right off the top that the movie is worth watching primarily for Keenan Wynn's hilarious performance as Ronnie Hastings. He really is the one who makes this movie.

Ronnie is a neighbour of and assistant to author Owen Waterbury (Douglas.) After writing a best-seller, Waterbury gives a lecture to a writing class and meets Stephanie Gaylord (Day.) Waterbury offers Gaylord a job as his secretary, and she accepts, but what she didn't know is that Waterbury's secretaries don't last very long. He's a bit of a playboy type, and he and Hastings always insist on a certain "type" of secretary (ie, extremely cute) and most of them don't take very kindly to being hit on as soon as they walk through the door.

Basically, this movie deals with the evolution of the relationship between Waterbury and Day. Both play their parts very well, but, as I said, the show is stolen by Wynn right from the beginning, and it all leads up to an ending (again with Wynn as the comedic centrepiece) that I didn't see coming, particularly given what seemed to be Ronnie's taste in women.

All in all, it's good, clean entertaining comedy, with a plot that admittedly gets a little bit tired by the end, but still there's quite a few laughs here. 7/10

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