What makes it different from others?

This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

It really made me laugh, but for some moments I was tearing up because I could relate so much.

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.

CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!Last night we watched our favorite George Arliss film, "The Working Man" (1933). This one not only has Arliss, but young Bette Davis (in her second film with Arliss, who more or less "discovered" her!), J. Farrell MacDonald, Hardie Albright, Theodore Newton, Gordon Westcott, and others.This one is about a rather dysfunctional late 20's/early 30's wealthy family where the father dies and his flapper age children let the business slide, besides putting a head manager in place who now runs the company poorly so that it will fail and be taken over by a buy-out plan in which he's secretly involved. The business is a shoe business, and it's in direct competition with George Arliss' shoe company. Arliss has now let his nephew into the head managing job in his own shoe business, and this nephew thinks that George Arliss is too old to run the company. Arliss "takes a vacation"; however, the "vacation" is really a ruse where Arliss goes to the competition, becomes a "guardian" of the children - legally - and teaches them how to run a business, besides - all this while never letting on who he is. The "vacation" becomes extended, of course. Meanwhile, Arliss "cleans up" his competitor's business by getting rid of the creep manager who's trying to undermine it, and in the end begins ruining his own business as a result. In the end, there's love - between Bette Davis and the nephew in Arliss' business, played by Hardie Albright - and a merger between the two companies. Believe me, this is a simplistic description of events. The truth is, the show is didactic. Most people today would simply balk at watching a didactic show. Frankly, I think it's the best comedy that George Arliss ever made. He was famous for his historical portrayals of famous men, but he also made a series of rather didactic comedies that are nearly unlike any other films ever made in English. I love them all. Actually, they probably portray the 1920's stage as well as any films ever made, a lost section of historical performance that makes itself come alive again in these Arliss vehicles.I not only highly recommend this, but for the viewer who wishes to see how Bette Davis became "discovered", this is the second of two (the other was "The Man Who Played God" (1932)) films she made where Arliss let her show her stuff, so to speak. These films have so much to offer to those willing to put themselves back into a period that is most unlike our own! Given that perspective, this will transport the viewer into another era and allow him/her to see a totally different kind of writing, acting, and format. There's just nothing out there today - at least in America - to compare to Arliss and his brand of film-making.A couple of years ago Warner Archive Collection put out a three film Arliss collection to let viewers re-acquaint themselves with Arliss who died in 1946, and who is nearly forgotten today, although he won one of the first Oscars for Best Actor in 1929 for "Disraeli". In the set were three Arliss comedies, "Old English" (1930), "A Successful Calamity" (1932), and "The King's Vacation", but none of his portrayals of historical figures. This was a curiosity in and of itself! It doesn't do justice to the man. However, the fact that "Old English" was included was a great choice! "The King's Vacation" has a very young Dick Powell in it, so it has some kind of "modern" appeal. "A Successful Calamity" has Mary Astor in it, so ditto what I just said. I'd love to see a second set out with "Disraeli", "The Man Who Played God", and "The Working Man" in it. These were very successful vehicles for Arliss in their time. A set with both the silent and the sound "The Green Goddess" (1922/1930) would also be fascinating. Arliss needs to be re-discovered!!

Working Man, The (1933) *** (out of 4) Extremely far-fetched but entertaining tale of a millionaire shoe maker (George Arliss) who decides to go work undercover at his rival's shoe factory. He wants to see if his nephew can really take care of the business but while undercover he begins to feel for the kids (Bette Davis, Theodore Newton) of the other shoe owner so he wants to teach them how to properly run a business even if that means he's going against his own. THE WORKING MAN has a very stupid story and I think the ending is pretty silly but at the same time Arliss is just so wonderful in the leading part that you can overlook the flaws with the story. I'm really not sure what the goal of the film was as it could have been to show young people what hard work is all about but it might also just be a story about one man caring for other people when he doesn't have any kids of his own. The story is very far-fetched but at the same time you can't help but enjoy watching Arliss play both sides against one another and in the end making everyone see what the most important things are. Needless to say, it's Arliss that steals the film with a remarkable and rather restrained performance. I really enjoyed how good Arliss was in regards to everything that the role called for. At times he had to be a strong disciplinary while the next scene might call for him to be a loving father type. He has to scream and shout to get the business going but then be caring enough to do what's best for these kids. Arliss nailed everything the screenplay called for and this was certainly a role the actor did justice for. Davis was still making a mark for herself so one shouldn't come to this film and expect to see that classic Davis. With that said she's still quite good here as you have no problem believing her in the part. Newton, Gordon Westcott and Hardie Albright add some nice support and horror fans will be happy to see Edward Van Sloan in a small role. THE WORKING MAN is certainly a message movie but while that message might get lost in some of the wackiness of the screenplay, what does stand is the strong performance by Arliss and that's reason alone to check this film out.