Manhandled

Gloria Swanson stars as Tessie McGuire, a department store clerk who rises through New York's social strata after a wealthy man takes an interest in her, only to discover that high society can be as exploitative as the shop floor. Directed by Allan Dwan from a story by Frank R. Adams, the film is a sharp class comedy that gives Swanson ample opportunity to display both comic timing and dramatic depth. The film's critique of urban capitalism and its treatment of working women was unusual for a mainstream Paramount production of the period. As a work published before 1930, it is in the public domain in the United States.