The Devil and Miss Jones

One of the richest men in the world wants to know who is trying to organise a union in his own department store. He conceals his identity and takes a job behind the shoe counter. A shift spent standing, swollen feet, twenty minutes for lunch and the small tyrannies of a floor manager bring him to a realisation: his own rules are hard to bear. The subject is not class but an owner seeing his business from inside. The film does not make the union ridiculous and draws the employees' demands as reasonable, which is an uncommon position for a Hollywood comedy of 1941. The form is fast and clean. The comedy is situational; the best passage takes place on a crowded beach, where the old man has to defend himself for the first time. Norman Krasna's screenplay and Charles Coburn's performance were both nominated for Oscars. Jean Arthur was one of the most reliable comic performers of the period. The title later came to be confused with something entirely unrelated; the similarly named 1973 film is an adult picture with no connection to this comedy. Robert Cummings plays the organiser. Sam Wood directs. Who it is for: viewers who like classical Hollywood comedy and light films that touch a social question. Who it is not for: anyone troubled by how easy the resolution is; the film finally rests everything on the boss's good will.