Penthouse

Had no idea just what this 1933 film was all about and if I would even be interested and was greatly surprised at how great it really was way back when. Warner Baxter,(Jack Durant) played the role of a crooked Lawyer who was being brought up on criminal charges. Myrna Loy,(Gertie Waxted) plays the role of a hostess, prostitute and all around well experienced girl who has been around the block many many times. Mae Clarke,(Mimi Montagne) gave an outstanding performance in this story that has many interesting twists and turns that will keep you guessing just how this picture will end. Myrna Loy did an outstanding performance and made this a very different kind of film which is not very well known.

This film was made a year before Myrna Loy catapulted to super-stardom with the Thin Man movies. At this point in her career, she was still a relatively unknown actress with a long but generally undistinguished track record. Warner Baxter, on the other hand, was the bigger star--with starring roles in 42ND STREET, THE CISCO KID (and its sequel) and THE SQUAW MAN.

Stylistically, the film is actually a lot like Baxter's B-movie series, The Crime Doctor, though in this case he plays a defense attorney who investigates crimes instead of a criminal psychiatrist who investigates crimes. Additionally, PENTHOUSE has a bit more style, polish and better acting than the Columbia Pictures series.

The film begins with Baxter getting a big-time hood off for a crime he apparently did not commit (for once). However, in a odd scene, the other lawyers in the practice vote him out because they don't want to be associated with such riffraff and attorneys who defend them (Ethics and a law practice?!?! What planet did these lawyers come from anyway?!?!). Additionally, Baxter's stuck up fiancée breaks it off with him because of the unsavory element he chooses to defend. However, Baxter really isn't a jerk lawyer--he just feels that IF the guy is actually innocent, he deserves a strong defense attorney (duh). But in this bizarre As I said above, this is a film with the odd idea of an attorney PERSONALLY investigating and solving crimes which his friends or clients are accused of committing. In reality, this never happens and I can't imagine Johnny Cochran or Robert Shapiro doing this and it's a cliché you just have to accept or else the film makes very little sense.

Along for the ride are Loy, Nat Pendleton (in one of his better and richer supporting roles) and a variety of other familiar faces (including veteran B actor, George E. Stone). It won't change your life and is a tad silly, but so well done that it's easy to forgive and enjoy.

By the way, having Myrna Loy stay in Baxter's apartment (even though they were in separate rooms) probably never would have gotten past the censors just one year later after the new Production Code would be enacted. Nor would a single man (Baxter) have been allowed to show a single girl around his bedroom.

Chic, stylish gangster romantic fun - MGM style. As you'd expect from this writing-directing team, you get likeable heroes, villainous villains, damsels in distress, femme fatales - in fact every familiar stereotype you could possibly want all expertly blended together then hurled at your face like a grapefruit.

For an early thirties picture, the cast is unusually large with an unusually multi-layered story. Despite this, because of its skilful and focused writing, the story is told with beautiful simplicity. As a murder mystery, it's perhaps a little too simple - the police division investigating here must have been the special needs department.... but that doesn't really matter. What matters are the relationships, the witty banter, the genuine tension, the fast moving action..... and which girl will Warner Baxter end up with?

This was Woody Van Dyke's next project after the fabulous NIGHT COURT (a really fabulous film) so it had a lot to live up to but there was no need to worry. Virtually everything he made from now on such as THE THIN MAN was pure gold. In this he benefits from having a great lead - Clark Gable's dad or maybe older brother - Warner Baxter. The characters are the ultimate cliches but so what - that just gives it a comfy warm sense of familiarity. Myrna Loy plays the archetypal tart-with-a-heart and although I've always found her strangely sinister like one of Satan's demons in drag, I have to admit that she's actually not too bad in this. Warner Baxter however just oozes charm and sincerity - it's definitely his picture...... along with Nat Pendleton who plays the loveable not as bad as the nasty gangster, gangster.

It's formulaic of course but it still has its own individual style and isn't a cheap imitation of a Warner Brothers gangster film. It's pure, classy MGM entertainment.

"Penthouse" is a first-rate example of "they don't make 'em like that anymore." The tale of a society lawyer turned criminal defense attorney -- out to prove the innocence of the accused murderer who waltzed off with his fiancée -- zips along. The dialog of the fabled Hackett-Goodrich team is sassy and clever. The relationship between lawyer Warner Baxter and Nat Pendleton as the racketeer who's his guardian angel perks up the plot. But it's Myrna Loy as the call girl who joins forces with Baxter to nail the real killer who shines. There are certain people the camera finds irresistible. And here, as the most lovable fallen woman of the pre-code era, Loy demonstrates the impish allure that would light up the screen for years to come.

Penthouse (1933)

*** (out of 4)

Warner Baxter plays a lawyer who has a reputation of getting guilty men off with murders but in reality he takes those who look guilty and proves their innocents. After getting a gangster off for murder, he gets involved with a new case where a friend of his is accused of murder and the only way to break through the case is by taking up with a gangster moll (Myrna Loy). I was really looking forward to this film, which many (including Maltin) talk up as a major gem of the decade and while I wouldn't go that far the movie is still pretty good. I think the biggest benefit here is that we get a lot of pre-code material including Baxter and Loy spending the night together, some sexual innuendo and most important is the sight of blood coming out of bullet holes, which wasn't seen in some of the major gangster films of the era. Another major plus are the performances with Baxter and Loy doing great work and really having great chemistry together. Moy easily steals the film in a very sexy performance that gives her quite a bit of range in terms of her character development. The supporting cast includes Charles Butterworth, Mae Clarke, C. Henry Gordon, Nat Pendleton, Raymond Hatton and George E. Stone. I think the film gets a little long winded in the middle but in the end this is another winning picture from the director and certainly worth watching when it pops up on Turner Classic Movies.