Employees' Entrance
Encyclopedia
Employees' Entrance is a 1933 Pre-Code film about the manager of a New York department store (Warren William
Warren William
Warren William was a Broadway and Hollywood actor, popular during the early 1930s, who was later nicknamed the "king of Pre-Code". He was born Warren William Krech in Aitkin, Minnesota to parents Freeman E. and Frances Krech. He had a certain physical resemblance to John Barrymore. He attended the...

) and an employee (Loretta Young
Loretta Young
Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...

).

Plot

Kurt Anderson is the utterly ruthless, hard-driving general manager of the Monroe department store. When new clothing supplier Garfinkle tells him that part of the large first order will be delayed three days because of labor trouble, Anderson cancels it all and tells his secretary to sue for damages. Garfinkle is ruined, but Anderson does not care in the least.

Late that night, Anderson finds Madeline Walters hiding in the store. Broke and unemployed, she is going to apply to work at Monroe's first thing in the morning. When she finds out who he is, she lets him take advantage of her to ensure she gets a job as a model in the clothing department.

With the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...

 cutting into the store's business, Anderson demands new ideas from his department heads. When Martin West comes up with an innovative idea, Higgins, the longtime head of men's clothing does not approve, but Anderson is impressed. He promptly tells Martin to go ahead, and fires Higgins. Seeing promise in West, Anderson makes him his assistant. He tells his new protege that he must devote himself completely to business and nothing else if he is to get ahead; he asks if Martin is married, and is relieved when the answer is no.

However, Martin and Madeleine fall in love. He tells her that he cannot marry her until his position is more secure, but, on an impulse, does so anyway, though he keeps it a secret. This puts a strain on their relationship.

Anderson believes all women are after only one thing - financial security. He doubles employee Polly Dale's salary to keep his nominal overseer, Denton Ross, occupied, leaving him a free hand to manage the store any way he sees fit.

Meanwhile, Higgins tries repeatedly to see Anderson to try to get his job back. Eventually Higgins gives up and commits suicide, jumping out of the ninth floor of the store. Martin is dismayed when Anderson is completely unperturbed by the news.

The Wests quarrel at a company party. Anderson finds a vulnerable Madeleine alone and gets her drunk. When she decides to leave, he invites her to rest for a while and clear her head in his hotel suite. Once again, he takes advantage of the situation to spend the night with her. The next day, Madeleine insists that he leave her alone. During their heated conversation, she lets slip that she is married to Martin. After she quits and threatens to take her husband with her, Anderson tries to get Polly to seduce Martin, but she refuses. Then he has Martin eavesdrop on the intercom while he summons Madeleine to his office. Martin learns of the times Madeleine slept with Anderson.

When Madeleine tries (unsuccessfully) to kill herself, a furious Martin confronts and threatens to kill his boss. Anderson, facing his own dismissal by cautious bankers afraid of his ambitious plans, dares him to do it, even providing a gun. Martin shoots, but only inflicts a minor wound. When employees dash in, Anderson acts as if nothing had happened. Martin quits.

Ross manages to contact the store's frequently absent owner, Commodore Franklin Monroe, and gets his proxy just in time for the vote of the board of directors. Anderson keeps his job. He promptly promotes Garfinkle, embittered and now just as ruthless, to be his new assistant.

Cast

  • Warren William
    Warren William
    Warren William was a Broadway and Hollywood actor, popular during the early 1930s, who was later nicknamed the "king of Pre-Code". He was born Warren William Krech in Aitkin, Minnesota to parents Freeman E. and Frances Krech. He had a certain physical resemblance to John Barrymore. He attended the...

     as Kurt Anderson
  • Loretta Young
    Loretta Young
    Loretta Young was an American actress. Starting as a child actress, she had a long and varied career in film from 1917 to 1953...

     as Madeleine Walters West
  • Wallace Ford
    Wallace Ford
    Wallace Ford was an English film and television actor who, with his friendly appearance and stocky build later in life, appeared in a number of film westerns and B-movies....

     as Martin West
  • Alice White as Polly Dale
  • Hale Hamilton as Commodore Franklin Monroe
  • Albert Gran
    Albert Gran
    Albert Gran was a Norwegian born American movie actor. He is most associated with his appearance in drama and light comedy films....

     as Denton Ross
  • Marjorie Gateson
    Marjorie Gateson
    Marjorie Augusta Gateson , was a character actress in Hollywood films of the 1930s and 1940s....

     as Mrs. Lee Hickox, a customer apprehended by mistake as a shoplifter
  • Ruth Donnelly
    Ruth Donnelly
    Ruth Donnelly was an American stage and film actress. Her father was the mayor of Trenton, New Jersey....

     as Miss Hall, Anderson's secretary
  • Frank Reicher
    Frank Reicher
    Frank Reicher , was a German-born American stage and film actor, director and producer.-Early life:Frank Reicher was born in Munich, Germany, the son of actor Emanuel Reicher and Hedwig Kindermann, a popular German prima donna who was a daughter of the famous baritone August Kindermann...

     as Garfinkle
  • Charles Sellon
    Charles Sellon
    Charles Sellon was an American stage and film actor. He appeared in 108 films and stage acts between 1901 and 1935. He was born in Boston, Massachusetts and died in La Crescenta, California. His grave is located in Valhalla Memorial Park Cemetery.-Selected filmography:-External links:...

     as Arnold Higgins
  • Allen Jenkins
    Allen Jenkins
    Allen Jenkins was an American character actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:He was born David Allen Curtis Jenkins in Staten Island, New York on April 9, 1900.-Career:...

    (uncredited) as Sweeney, a store detective
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