This story, adapted from Christopher Morley's novel, about a working girl stuck on two different suitors--one with old-generation money and the other no less than a doctor--comes dangerously close to mawkish soap opera. Fortunately, director Sam Wood has a firm grip on the narrative, keeping it from lapsing into suds and guiding Ginger Rogers to a Best Actress Oscar. Wood's attempts to show the various roles women have played throughout the years are weakly-handled, and the shapeless script by Dalton Trumbo (with assistance from Donald Ogden Stewart) seems intent on making the same points over and over again. Still, there several funny, cynical sequences and some sharp dialogue. Rogers hits a few clanging notes, but her energy and enthusiasm are unmistakable. ** from ****