George Arliss does his usual enjoyable turn as a wily old patriarch running rings round the rest of the cast while adroitly covering his tracks in 'The Working Man', which takes him out of his usual historical fancy dress and instead places him at the helm of a very contemporary tale of post-Crash America; complete with a Thoroughly Modern young female lead in the form of Arliss's young blonde protégé Bette Davis.With America at the time sunk in the depths of the Great Depression, Arliss's extraordinary manipulation of two competing shoe manufacturers pretty much on a whim - played as good-natured force - provides a bizarre commentary on its time; and Arliss remains fun to watch over seventy years after his death.

As Bette Davis herself often confirmed, in the "George Arliss Unit" as it was called, director Adolfi was simply a tool in the hands of producer, George Arliss. Whilst Adolfi had some control over camera set-ups, it was Arliss himself who directed all the actors. Not only that but Arliss also functioned as an executive producer. He was not answerable to either Warner or Zanuck. Arliss was answerable only to himself. He functioned independently and was actively engaged in selecting what he would produce, whom he would cast and all other work from preliminary through to final.So here's the team of George Arliss-John G. Adolfi back again. Mr. Adolfi lets Mr. Arliss have his head, which we don't mind because Mr. Arliss is a charismatic person who can carry a scene and make weak dialogue sound strong if nobody can. But unfortunately Mr. Adolfi also lets rotten players like J. Farrell MacDonald (and to a lesser extent Theodore Newton and Hardie Albright) chew up the scenery too. Bette Davis plays another youthful heiress in this one but Adolfi and Arliss obviously thought well of her ability because most of her scenes with the actor are filmed in long takes. Some reliable character actors like Gordon Westcott, Douglass Dumbrille and Edward Cooper (who plays a particularly opportunistic butler) are also present but it is Arliss's film and he makes the most of it, even though he does seem a trifle out of place in modern dress.

THE WORKING MAN appointed to watch over the inheritance of a couple of young wastrels, unbeknownst to them, is actually the old tycoon once in love with their late mother.This is a very well produced little comedy from Vitaphone/Warner Bros., featuring another splendid performance from the old master of character acting, Mr. George Arliss. This was an actor who could fascinate an audience merely by sitting still, letting his face act for him. Here, playing a great shoe manufacturer, Arliss is tremendous fun, whether haranguing his salesmen, or, switching sides, working for his own biggest competitor with equal gusto. It is doubtful that Arliss ever gave anything less than an entertaining cinematic performance. It is a shame that this wonderful actor is nearly forgotten today.Arliss is given good support by a trio of young actors: Hardie Albright as his stuffy, conceited nephew - ‘The Young Napoleon of Shoes;' as well as Theodore Newton and a very pert & pretty Bette Davis as the spendthrift offspring of his late rival. Miss Davis always credited Mr. Arliss for giving her an important hands-up at this early stage in her screen career.J. Farrell MacDonald is very down-to-earth as Arliss' fishing buddy in Maine; Edward Van Sloan appears briefly, but effectively, as Arliss' company auditor.

I've always immensely enjoyed comedies involving deception of sorts, where the audience is in on who a person really is, while most of the cast in the movie are not (The Devil and Miss Jones (1941) comes to mind as an example). This film is one of the best of that type, with wealthy shoe manufacturer George Arliss overhearing his nephew (Hardie Albright) saying he should retire so he can run the business and do it better. A little angry, Arliss goes on a fishing vacation to Maine where his old buddy J. Farrell MacDonald lives, and quite by accident meets up with the heirs (Bette Davis and Theodore Newton) of his chief competitor, who had just died. Arliss uses an alias, and they think he is somewhat of a bum when they take him back to New York with them because of a minor injury to his hand. There Arliss sees the sorry state their finances are in and how their shoe plant is purposely being run down by Gordon Westcott, who wants to buy it at a cheap price. Arliss somehow convinces the trustees of the estate to make him Davis' and Newton's guardian, and the fireworks begin as he takes charge of his competitor's shoe plant. Only MacDonald knows who he really is, and he keeps Arliss informed about any mail sent by Albright, who thinks he still is on vacation in Maine. So Arliss plays both ends against the middle, so to speak, and in the process teaches Davis, Newton and Albright a thing or two about life and business.The real joy in the film is the very clever screenplay, but George Arliss is also terrific in the lead, with Davis and Newton not far behind. Arliss knew the role well having done it in the 1924 silent called "$20 a Week." And Gordon Westcott makes a good heavy. This is a very underrated gem of a comedy.