Penthouse

Quite decent crime mystery starring Warner Baxter as Jack Durant, a society lawyer who gets dumped by his law firm as well as his snooty girlfriend who doesn't want to marry a "gangster lawyer" (as she calls him) because he likes to defend criminal types such as gangsters, racketeers, bootleggers, and the like (doesn't fit in with her tennis, yacht dances, and lawn party lifestyle, I guess). Anyway, this gal immediately becomes engaged to a young "Park Avenue" man who soon gets arrested for murder - and Durant sets out to prove this young man was framed, along with the help of a gangster pal named Tony and Durant's newest female interest, a woman (played by Myrna Loy) who was best friends with the "night club hostess" who was murdered.

This is an entertaining film with engaging story that held my interest. The story is somewhat predictable, but very interesting to watch with well done performances by all. I enjoyed Myrna Loy in this (though she is resigned to wearing the same big-front-bowed evening gown just about the entire film). Warner Baxter is handsome and smooth here - there is some amusing bedroom talk between him and Loy where she seems to want to spend the night with him, he wants to hold back and play the "gentleman". Nat Pendleton is fun here as Tony, the gangster with a good sense of humor. Quite good.

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.

An honest lawyer (Warner Baxter) is in a jam. A friend of his ex (Phillips Holmes) was been wrongfully accused of murder...but nobody will trust him or confide in him because of his reputation. But a friend (Myrna Loy) of the murdered girl agrees to help him. There's a lot more twists and turns in this movie but you should see it to find them out.

The movie movie moves like lightning, has a sharp, snappy script and a cast of actors giving it their all. There's also pretty frank sexual innuendo between Baxter and Loy (I'm assuming this was a pre-Code film). Well worth seeing.

For some reason this is a forgotten movie. It's a shame because this is really a great little picture. Maybe the lack of stars (except for Loy) keeps this off the radar. This is well worth rediscovering.

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.

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.