Search - Private Secretary - Volume 3 on DVD

Ann Sothern in her greatest role

Byron Kolln | the corner where Broadway meets Hollywood | 05/29/2007

(4 out of 5 stars)

"PRIVATE SECRETARY (aka "Susie"), which originally ran between 1954-57, starred former M-G-M movie queen Ann Sothern as the meddlesome Susie MacNamara, secretary to New York talent agency manager Peter Sands (Don Porter).



The show offered Ann Sothern the chance to revive her flagging screen career, and endeared her to millions of television viewers across the world. On a broader scale, the character of Susie, a strong self-assured careerwoman in New York, was a radical departure from the domestic housewives that had been the norm in sitcoms up until that time. Ann Sothern's brittle, no-nonsense comedy style holds the entire show together; and her chemistry with Don Porter is very strong.



This 3rd volume from Alpha Video Classics includes the following episodes:



"Little Caesar of Bleeker Street" - Susie befriends a streetwise kid called Chuckie Willis (a very young Harry Shearer, of "This is Spinal Tap" fame).



"Passing the Buck" - Susie, Vi (Ann Tyrrell) and Scotty each pass along a copy of an unread script...only for it to land in the hands of a rival agency.



"Sow's Ear" - Susie finds herself teaching Cagey Calhoun (Jesse White) some lessons in basic manners.



"Oh, Brother!" - A plan backfires for Susie when she tries to reunite two long-lost brothers on national television.



(Single-sided, single-layer disc)."