How others will see it. The comedy is a charmer, all right. The story doesn't quite hold up under examination (we'll get into that shortly) but most viewers won't see it that way. Instead, they will cheer Coburn on in his transformation from grumpy capitalist to grumpy unionist, a transition enabled by the surprising amount of maternal attention that the beautiful and much younger Arthur sends his way.
How I felt about it. But why would Arthur make Higgins her new best friend? Is it because (in her mind) he represents what happens when workers are not protected by unions? Even if she's the nicest girl in the world (and isn't she always?) why would Higgins, no charmer, become the lost puppy dog to be saved from a cruel world?
I like Jean Arthur. And Charles Coburn. They're good comic actors. They do their best to make their characters believable. And Coburn, as the secretive zillionaire with a heart of gold, is believable. And I can accept Arthur as the childrens' shoe salesman with a heart of gold. I just can't accept that either she, or blank slate old maid Elizabeth (Spring Byington), would find anything remarkable about grouchy poser Higgins.
Beyond the able and likable cast, The Devil and Miss Jones is interesting for its psychology. Stripped of his identity, Merrick becomes a troublemaker in the eyes of management and law enforcement. He doesn't seem to know his place in the pecking order. He appears to be a bug about to be squashed under the boot of the System, and perhaps that is why lefties Jones and Cummings take such an interest in helping him.
The irony is that, as a fabulously wealthy and unrepenting capitalist, their project actually represents what they hate most: money without social conscience. No wonder Coburn worries that Elizabeth won't marry him because of his money. But, since this is a Hollywood movie, they've got him pegged correctly all along. Coburn is a softie at heart. In his introductory scene, he eats graham crackers and gives his detective time off for his wife's delivery. Blow out the flames (the trappings of wealth), and he's not the devil after all.