The Bright Young Newcomer (1958)

★★★★★ · RAWR! Office Cat Fights! · Spuzz · 2003-02-16

In this classic "What would you do?" film, The boss introduces Joan who is wearing FAR to much makeup, to the girls of the firm he runs. Soon Joan runs into odds with Betty, old office idea stalwart. Soon Betty complains to the boss, Boss says he will do something about it, but never does, Joan and Betty run into odds again, and my god, nearly duke it out (RAWR!) once again Betty complains. The end card reads "Why doesn't Betty adapt new ideas?" It's interesting that Betty is to blame for everything, I didn't think that was fair. ANYWAYS, this film has muted colors, which makes the film all…

★★★★★ · Absolutely beautiful! · MWesson · 2003-03-27

A classic! Business schools are still teaching resistance to change today and this is a great example of a classic organizational behavior issue that will always be here. Movie is so politically incorrect today it's funny. Nothing worse than being a supervisor in an office "with a bunch of girls". Every office has one of them... a girl with "little personality, but very efficient".

★★★★★ · well done but dated · tracey pooh · 2005-06-21

the film is well acted and illustrates that classic "oy! i can't believe so-and-so wants to switch things that are working fine" kind of border wars we all experience at work at one time or another. so what have we learned? 1) I guess we've learned that it's good to "learn new ideas" (go php! go ant! go xml/xsl!) (er, sorry, quiet webmaster, quiet) 2) thank goodness "girls" are out and 2000s are in!

★★★★★ · Great! · RedAliCat · 2003-08-07

All I can add to the reviews below is that this resembled the first year of the job that I'm currently at. Change the clothes, but the dialog is still the same. Perfect!

★★★★★ · MY question is - why is Barnes so lazy and incompetent? · Wakashimazu · 2007-07-16

Not, "why is Betty resistant to new ideas". A very sexist film, showing overqualified and intelligent women (referred to as 'girls') forced to do menial tasks. Everytime Betty has a problem, Barnes just ignores them (by the way, Betty is with the company almost as long as Barnes and set up the whole filing system - why isn't she in management?). And when he does talk to her, he's very condescending. If this in any indication of the reality of the workplace in the 50s, it's no wonder the women's movement happened! I give it 5 stars for the historical value.

★★★★ · Beneath the sexism, good question for managers · Mental Cleanser · 2008-04-12

"Sometimes I feel sorry for people who have to run an office setup... especially if it employs a number of girls! So darn many things can develop, out of nothing!" What a promising start! The repetitive use of "darn" and "girls" is very, very weird. Once you get over the old-time feel, though, it's a bit interesting. At root, the manager is the problem: it's his job to determine how his group should operate, and to ensure that interpersonal conflicts (or disputes over methodology) are dealt with. He assures Betty she's in the right (reinforcing her anger over the newcomer's meddling), but…