In the films of Mitchell Leisen, who began his career as Art Director for Cecil B. De Mille, “dynamic representations of women are the rule...whether as career girls, female tycoons or adventuresses.... (L)eisen's special penchant for role-reversal narratives and dream sequences permits a more open play of female sexuality and questioning of women's place than usual.... Leisen's women are ‘cured' of their subversive desires, but the law of patriarchy is only cursorily enforced....” --Ian Christie, National Film Theatre.
