Penthouse

"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.

This film contains all the elements of a great gangster story. It is a perfect example of 1930's big city gangster films. Yet it does not fall into a stereotypical mold at all. It is entertaining throughout. Just when you think it is going one way, it goes the other, building the suspense and irony until you realize it is not going to be a typical story.

All the players keep in character and hold your attention with crisp and refreshing dialogue. Baxter and Loy are so in tune with one another, and you do not get the feeling they are acting.

And isn't it neat to see Nat Pendleton play a smart, in-charge guy for once, instead of just a bumbling half-wit mob henchman. (Though he is always likable in that role, it surprised me to see what a smart guy he really was!) The plot of this film is genre-based, yet quite original and full of all the necessary elements: virtue, vice, mystery, false suspicion, resolution of mystery, resolution of false suspicion, romance, heavy action, jazz, and many doors that seem to want to open, but just the right ones open at just the right intervals to keep you entertained throughout this gem of a film.

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.

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.

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.