Skyscraper Souls

Made before "the code" removed all "offensive" material from American movies, Skyscraper Souls combines the social commentary of a Warner Bros. film, the class of an MGM production, and the sleaziness of a pulp novel. Warren Williams, a great but sadly overlooked actor, is perfect as the nice-but-slimy David Dwight, bank entrepreneur, who has built a 100-story monument to himself and doesn't have the $30,000,000 to pay for it. How he gets the money and what happens to those who unwittingly fall into his trap, constitutes the main thrust of the narrative. The film is full of diverse characters, all trying to eek out a living in the towering Dwight Bldg. The many plotlines cross and criss-cross, and the end is more realistic than one would expect from a "Hollywood" film. Watch for it on TCM, or on Laserdisc, in the "Forbidden Hollywood" set.

Will innocent young Lynn Harding (O'Sullivan) give in to rich man Dave Dwight's (William) predatory advances or will she settle for working-man Tom Shepherd's (Foster) marriage proposal. This is the height of the Depression (1932), so maybe being a toy for a rich man is better than barely hanging on in a house with kids. But then, Dwight is one ruthless conniver. We see how he's topped the business pile through heartless double-cross and market manipulation. But he's also charming, handsome, and very persuasive. It's a tough situation for the fetching young Lynn to find herself in.

The movie itself would not work so well without the commanding presence of William who dominates even down to the sub-plots. It's his magnetism that keeps those rather weak sub-plots (Hersholt, Ratoff, Ford) from limping away from the core. Too bad that this fine actor died fairly young and is now largely forgotten. The cuddly O'Sullivan, too, shines in her role as the ingénue, showing how she could be both tough and winsome. No wonder Tarzan wanted her for a mate.

The plot resembles Employee's Entrance (1933), where William played a department store tycoon as unsympathetic as his role here. Skyscraper's high point comes when the supremely self-assured Dwight lords his triumph over business rivals in a startling 3-minute soliloquy to superior ruthlessness. Business has no ethics or rules, he asserts. Thus, he won the battle for the skyscraper's ownership by playing the game more ruthlessly and cleverly than his opponents. So instead of complaining, they should learn the hard lesson he has taught them if they want to succeed in the world of high finance. It's as clear a statement of Darwinist principles as any movie of the day, and likely confirmed audience suspicions on the nature of the economic crisis then threatening them. Just as in Employee's Entrance, I expect the audience comes to grudgingly admire William's clarity at the same time he's feared and loathed. Perhaps there's also insight into the odd mass appeal of those political strong men like Hitler and Mussolini then on the rise.

This is another of those pre-Code gems that deserves the kind of resurrection cable TV can give them. Note how casually marriage is treated by the upper echelon, especially by Dwight's little lesson on how physical separation guarantees a lasting partnership. Also, note how casually the innuendo drifts by, especially how a "Mrs. Kind", no less, has injured poor old Charlie Norton's back the night before. Then too, Dwight may be one heartless businessman, but he also pensions off ex-mistresses in pretty generous fashion. Unfortunately, honesty of this sort would soon disappear from the screen for decades courtesy the Motion Picture Code's effort at reinforcing the non-sexual and non-political in the face of increasingly restive Depression-era audiences.

Nonetheless, this is a movie to catch up with, along with the equally revealing Employee's Entrance from the same period. It's also a good window into one of the finest neglected performers of his time and before he got trapped into too many lightweight vehicles, the compelling Warren William.

This Depression-era melodrama from MGM in the '30s contains several strong performances and interesting plot elements that place it among the better "big business" stories that Hollywood loves to make about ethics and morality. It's a forerunner of other such films, such as "Executive Suite" but has even more bite despite some of the dated elements of the story.

WARREN WILLIAM is convincing as the owner of the world's tallest building who will stoop to anything to keep control of his luxurious hi-rise, which includes a swanky bachelor pad for his affair with his personal assistant (VERREE TEASDALE).

A subplot involves the affair between MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN and a man in hot pursuit (NORMAN FOSTER), a bank teller who has trouble keeping her to himself once she is noticed by the wealthy William. It's one of O'Sullivan's best early roles (before she became Tarzan's Jane), and she does extremely well in it except for the way she jabs away at the keyboard as an office typist, which is almost laughable.

Several strands of plot are smoothly entwined and lead toward a very melodramatic ending involving Warren William and his mistress. HEDDA HOPPER pops in once in awhile as William's wife who is always looking for a handout so she can keep a villa in Italy.

After a shocking conclusion, there's a bittersweet ending for O'Sullivan and Foster. His extroverted character is a bit annoying at times but he certainly is a lively presence during the proceedings.

This is an undiscovered gem worth seeking out if you're a fan of stories about big business. It's a sort of "Grand Hotel" in its own way.

Ultra charming megalomaniac David Dwight (played by Warren William at his most dastardly) will stop at nothing to realize his dream of having total control of New York's tallest (it dwarfs the Empire State Building a few clouds down) skyscraper. By way of style and guile he leads investors into a trap in order to solidify his power base. A bit of a lecher as well he manages to seduce a new secretary who happens to be the niece of his executive secretary / mistress. Exuding ultra confidence Dwight triumphs in both arenas but soon finds himself out on a precarious ledge.

William plays Dwight with passionate bravado and gentle understanding. He charms everyone, including the audience for the first hour as he turns it on for investors and lovers with devastating results. His drive and ambition however bring out the Mr. Hyde in him as he callously jettisons both to achieve aim. William's, pitch perfect snake is greatly aided by William Daniel's cinematography which captures the strikingly lit futuristic slick and sleek interiors provided by Cedric Gibbons and company creating an ideal stage for Dwight's messianic harangues and seductions.

The supporting cast led by Gregory Ratoff, Verree Teasdale and Anita Page down to the minor supporting roles of duped investors are substantive and crucial. The film's biggest misstep is the handling of comic relief through Norman Foster's Harold Llyod like bank teller Romeo. Granted the film is dark but Forster (who would eventually go on to become the most commercially successful film director in history) is little more than obnoxiously abrasive and an annoying distraction.

In addition to the fine cast and luridly engrossing story line there is some powerful exterior imagery that makes for a powerhouse climax as well as the surrealistic image of the newly erected, inferior sized Empire that still has the same impact today.

Made prior to film censorship, Skyscraper Souls allows the conniving Dwight to vividly display his duplicity with élan and without regret. Released during the bleakest days of The Depression it is an uncompromisingly dark portrait for its time that still resonates eight decades later amid investment house failures and in personages that run from Trump to Madoff.

"Skyscraper Souls" is something of a poor man's "Grand Hotel." Instead of the Barrymore brothers, Greta Garbo, Wallace Beery, and Joan Crawford, we get Warren William, Jean Hersholt, Hedda Hopper, and Maureen O'Sullivan, but as was often the case in the 30s, MGM's second team plays as well as their first.

For all its stars, "Grand Hotel" now seems pretty creaky and its characters generally not very engaging. The Weimar Berlin setting doesn't help matters; you can almost feel the sense of decay and resignation. "Skyscraper" is it's polar opposite. Although New York is in the grip of the Great Depression, you can't help but be swept up in the picture's vitality. The market may be crashing, but people haven't lost their spunk, especially William's ruthless tycoon, who's just thrown up a 100 story building - try finding one of those in Berlin.

"Skyscraper" moves at a fast pace and its multiple plot lines mesh together quite well. Although it was made 70 years ago, both the financial and romantic entanglements seem very modern. Dave Dwight certainly would be at home in today's board room and most of the women come across as surprisingly contemporary. They aren't exactly feminists, but these girls don't take things lying down.

Highly recommended to film buffs, students of the Depression era, and anyone who enjoys modern melodrama.