Seven Days a Week, 24 Hours a Day, ruthless department store owner Warren William works himself and everybody he encounters nearly to death. Men fired by him jump out of windows. Others get a lower job, but vow to his face to destroy him. What does he do in that case? He gives them a raise! If it is anything he hates, it is sentimentality. Even after 30 years of service from the suicidal employee, fired for having outlived his usefulness, William only sends a wreath to his wake simply as a gesture that he does have some blood in that cold stone of a heart.
Not until J.R. Ewing came along 45 years later on TV's "Dallas" was there such a ruthless and calculating businessman as "Employee Entrance's" Warren William. He openly enjoys being amoral, having the store tramp (Alice White) seduce an old codger on the board, sets his sites on the wife (Loretta Young) of the man (Wallace Ford) he's mentoring to take on his own traits, and admonishes his dedicated secretary (Ruth Donnelly) for buying a dress from a small shop going out of business. The more people stand up to him, the better he likes it, knowing those are the people because of the ruthlessness he can squeeze out of him will help increase his business.
The dashing Mr. William is the whole show here, ripping apart everyone around him with gnashed teeth foaming and nostrils baring. He realizes that when his own usefulness is done, he too may head for that 9th story window. Young and Ford get a few chances to have an important scene or two, but are simply puddy in Williams' cold hands to mold as he sees fit. There are shots of wacky customers in quick scenes (One annoying customer calls a clerk "You fresh thing!" after asking her where the basement is, and being told the 11th Floor; Hoity Toity Marjorie Gateson picks an expensive piano after store detective Allen Jenkins accuses her falsely of shoplifting) and a memorable employee banquet where William makes his predatory feelings towards a drunken Young known.
Charles Sellon, as the unfortunate veteran employee, is heartbreaking, while White is a pre-code gem as the floozie who finds herself out on her keester when William's plans for leaving town with her all of a sudden change. This is what the Hays code was out to finish off in Hollywood, but fortunately, the ones made before the code came in (with the unfortunate exception of "Convention City") remain. The use of "Million Dollar Baby" ("In a Five and Ten cent Store") in the background is a brilliant touch.
Not until J.R. Ewing came along 45 years later on TV's "Dallas" was there such a ruthless and calculating businessman as "Employee Entrance's" Warren William. He openly enjoys being amoral, having the store tramp (Alice White) seduce an old codger on the board, sets his sites on the wife (Loretta Young) of the man (Wallace Ford) he's mentoring to take on his own traits, and admonishes his dedicated secretary (Ruth Donnelly) for buying a dress from a small shop going out of business. The more people stand up to him, the better he likes it, knowing those are the people because of the ruthlessness he can squeeze out of him will help increase his business.
The dashing Mr. William is the whole show here, ripping apart everyone around him with gnashed teeth foaming and nostrils baring. He realizes that when his own usefulness is done, he too may head for that 9th story window. Young and Ford get a few chances to have an important scene or two, but are simply puddy in Williams' cold hands to mold as he sees fit. There are shots of wacky customers in quick scenes (One annoying customer calls a clerk "You fresh thing!" after asking her where the basement is, and being told the 11th Floor; Hoity Toity Marjorie Gateson picks an expensive piano after store detective Allen Jenkins accuses her falsely of shoplifting) and a memorable employee banquet where William makes his predatory feelings towards a drunken Young known.
Charles Sellon, as the unfortunate veteran employee, is heartbreaking, while White is a pre-code gem as the floozie who finds herself out on her keester when William's plans for leaving town with her all of a sudden change. This is what the Hays code was out to finish off in Hollywood, but fortunately, the ones made before the code came in (with the unfortunate exception of "Convention City") remain. The use of "Million Dollar Baby" ("In a Five and Ten cent Store") in the background is a brilliant touch.