Private Secretary Volume 3 (8 Episodes)

Ann Sothern in her greatest role
PRIVATE SECRETARY (aka "Susie"), which originally ran between 1954-57, starred former M-G-M movie queen Ann Sothern as the meddlesome Susie MacNamara, secretary to New York talent agency manager Peter Sands (Don Porter).

The show offered Ann Sothern the chance to revive her flagging screen career, and endeared her to millions of television viewers across the world. On a broader scale, the character of Susie, a strong self-assured careerwoman in New York, was a radical departure from the domestic housewives that had been the norm in sitcoms up until that time. Ann Sothern's brittle, no-nonsense comedy style holds the entire show together; and her chemistry with Don Porter is very strong.

This 3rd volume from Alpha Video Classics includes the following episodes:

"Little Caesar of Bleeker Street" - Susie befriends a streetwise kid called Chuckie Willis (a very young Harry Shearer, of "This is Spinal Tap" fame).

"Passing the Buck" - Susie, Vi...

sensational Ann Sothern
PRIVATE SECRETARY stars Ann Sothern as Susie MacNamara, the meddlesome secretary to New York talent mogul Peter Sands (Don Porter). Susie often gets confused as to the limitations of her job and becomes frequently entangled in the lives of Peter and his clients. Snappy dialogue and great comic support is provided by Ann Tyrrell as Susie's workmate Vi Praskins. The show originally ran on the CBS network from 1954-57, and later went under the title of "Susie" for syndicated re-runs.

Ann Sothern is the perfect anchor for the show; her brittle, no-nonsense comedy style holds the series together, and her chemistry with Don Porter is undeniable. Ann Tyrrell steals many scenes as daffy receptionist Vi.

This volume of episodes from Critics Choice includes:

"How to Handle the Boss" - Susie's new boyfriend decides to act as her ghostwriter for a newspaper article, and instead lands her in hot water with Peter! Original airdate 28th October 1956...

Private Secretary 3 - Beware
I was disappointed in the Private Secretary series 1-4. First, they are terribly dated and there are only four episodes on each. I have a lot of DVDs from old TV shows and most are very enjoyable. This series doesn't hold up over time. Beware that if you buy Private Secretary 1 and 2, you already have half of what is on Private Secretary 3 and 4 because four of the episodes are repeated from 1 and 2 to 3 and 4. That should not have happened. If they couldn't come up with four episodes for each one, they should have stopped with Private Secretary 3. I made the mistake of buying all four at the same time. If you think you are interested in seeing this, buy only Private Secretary 1 and see if you want to buy more. It's not a good value to pay for four of these and only get twelve different episodes.

Click to Editorial Reviews