Female 1933

Alison Drake is the wealthy owner and hard-driving, no-nonsense head of a large automobile company, inherited from her father. Her relentless focus on work has cooled her youthful romanticism, and she maintains casual affairs with men, including some of her own employees. She presides over a glamorous, high-stakes world where power, money, and reputation ride hand in hand.

At a party held in her opulent mansion, she grows weary of men who seem to be after her wealth or eager to seal a marriage for financial gain. Seeking a little freedom, she slips away to a nearby amusement park and winds up meeting a man at a shooting gallery. Their time together is playful and carefree, and for a moment she forgets the grind of her daily life, even as he declines her invitation to go back with her that night.

The following day, fate brings them back into each other’s orbit at her factory. To their mutual astonishment, the man is Jim Thorne, a gifted engineer she has hired away from a rival company. He approaches the meeting with a calm professionalism, eager to discuss technical plans, not romance, and he makes it clear that their relationship must remain within the bounds of employer and employee.

That evening, she invites him to her mansion under the guise of a serious business discussion, then tries to seduce him. He resists, insisting that their connection be kept professional and strictly transactional. The rejection irks her, and she turns to her loyal assistant, Pettigrew, for a fresh take on the situation. He offers a blunt truth: many men crave a softer, less independent partner, so she adopts a different approach to win him over.

A new plan forms: she arranges a picnic and, through a patient, calculated charm, she wears down his defenses. The effort pays off, and he gives in to the growing attraction between them. The next day, he arrives at her office with a marriage license, but she candidly tells him that she preferred their arrangement as it was, and he reacts with anger and resignation, quitting his position.

Meanwhile, the company faces a fresh hurdle. The business demands more financing to stay afloat, but a rival firm is maneuvering to take over, and local banks have shut them out. She sets up a meeting with New York bankers, yet the looming crisis shifts her priorities: she discovers she cannot imagine life without Jim.

Determined to protect what they might build together, she has the police track his whereabouts and sets off in pursuit. She eventually locates him again at another shooting gallery and makes a bold confession: she is willing to marry him. The potential path forward becomes clear—together they could fly to New York in time to save the company. Yet the arrangement takes a final, provocative turn: she envisions him running the firm, while she imagines a future with nine children, indicating that love and ambition will redefine both their lives.