Working Girls is an astonishingly fresh Pre-Code film made by pioneering feminist director Dorothy Arzner. Ahead of her time, Arzner pulled no punches in her treatment of sexuality. Because of this, even in the wide-open Pre-Code era, Arzner battled with the censors over the film’s explicit treatment of pregnancy outside of marriage. Given the circumstances, it is surprising that the film was ever made; even so, Paramount gave the film a rather limited national release. It is a miracle that the film even survives and makes public screenings all the more important.

Two sisters from Indiana, the wide-eyed and innocent Mae Thorpe (Dorothy Hall), and her more streetwise sister June (Judith Wood), move into the Rolf House for Homeless Girls in New York. With June’s help, Mae obtains a job as a stenographer for the scientist Joseph von Schraeder, while June gets work as a telegraph operator at Western Union.

Reviews

"With razor sharp editing by Jane Loring, Arzner creates a fresh, compact, and decidedly female centered tale, which remains shockingly relevant even today." – Senses of Cinema

"Their dynamic with each other, the other girls in the boardinghouse and their gentleman suitors is navigated with more nuance than other films of its era, Arzner foregrounding the women’s personal evolution over details of romantic preoccupations." – Cine-File