L'amante sconosciuta

This is a mystery film that, although not quite of the calabre of The Thin Man, builds suspense and intrigue thoroughly. Both William Powell and Myrna Loy are superb, playing characters completely different from those they play in The Thin Man series. They breathe a new life into a common plot. This film may seem slow, but it is certainly worth it.

William Powell and Myrna Loy made fourteen films together; "Evelyn Prentice" was their third, released in 1934.

Powell plays John Prentice, a busy attorney who isn't spending enough time with his wife Evelyn (Loy) and child; he drifts into an affair with a needy client (Rosalind Russell) whom he has successfully defended in a manslaughter case.

Evelyn is being wooed by a so-called poet (Harvey Stephens) who in truth has blackmail in mind. When he presents Evelyn with incriminating letters (though she hasn't had an affair with him, the letters are suggestive), a struggle ensues, and he winds up dead. His girlfriend (Isabel Jewell) is accused.

The acting helps what has now become a familiar story. Myrna Loy is absolutely gorgeous and sympathetic as a lonely wife resisting the attentions of another man; and you know that Powell, despite his philandering, cares for her deeply. Una Merkel is delightful as Evelyn's friend.

Powell and Loy worked so easily together and by all accounts enjoyed their collaborations, keeping up their friendship even after Powell retired. They're always a joy to watch.

This movie is one of the best examples of what resulted when the studio machine didn't quite know what to do with its talent pool.

Powell and Loy, who had recently proven themselves a winning team in the original Thin Man, are again the urbane marrieds. Their individual talents and snappy chemistry aren't entirely swamped by this soapy melodrama, but they are given a slight patina of caricature. Thank god the studio figured it out and gave us five more Thin Man movies.

The very freaky thing about this movie is the film debut of the divine Roz Russell. Granted, she was an extremely beautiful woman, but casting her in the Joan Crawford femme fatale role gives unintentional comedy and a textbook demonstration of "What do we do with this one" syndrome. Thank god the studio figured it out and gave us the rest of her career.

As a movie, Evelyn Prentice is not bad lazy rainy Sunday viewing. It's much more interesting as a piece of oddball film history and an object lesson in how mediocre things can happen to great people.

In EVELYN PRENTICE, I saw the importance of family and the real meaning of "'til death do us part," from the standard marriage vows. Work comes between John and Evelyn Prentice (William Powell and Myrna Loy). A sweet-talker comes between John and Evelyn Prince. Their daughter Dorothy brings them together, as does love.

As simple as this sounds, as possibly hokey, it mattered in 1935, and it made for a good movie. It matters in the 21st Century, as well, and the movie is still good.

The villain in this film is portrayed as totally devoid of value, his killing beneficial to the human race. Vigilante justice is an uneasy concept, but it works. The sleazy sweet-talker is shot, and John Prentice is the best attorney around.

If you like Powell and Loy beyond the Thin Man series, and there are several great ones, you'll enjoy this. Powell's character is a sophisticated as ever, Loy's as fantastically intelligent.

My wife and I enjoyed this film.

Lenore Coffee was a prolific screenwriter whose specialty was the "women's picture," and she writes a honey of one here. William Powell is a too-busy lawyer who's dallying with client Rosalind Russell and who neglects his family (and boy, can I identify with that), to the point where good wife Loy is momentarily distracted by a lounge-lizard poet with a busy black book. Disastrous complications ensue. William Howard's direction is workmanlike at best, but Coffee keeps the fireworks popping. She balances things expertly between smart, sassy dialog and courtroom melodramatics, and she can write persuasively for tart-tongued best friends (a soignee Una Merkel), wide-eyed daughters (a relatively unannoying Cora Sue Collins), wronged women (a heavy-lidded Isabel Jewell), and a supporting cast of New York sophisticates. The windup is a little fast and the idyllic fadeout not entirely convincing, but in these days of overheated trials and yellow Murdoch journalism, it's not entirely implausible, either. A very fast and smart comedy-drama, and I didn't mind the absence of the Nick and Nora personas, or Asta, one bit.