High Pressure

High pressure was based on the play "Hot Money" by Aben Kandel. Seems to be the first thing he did in "show biz"... The leads, William Powell, Evelyn Brent, George Sidney, Evalyn Knapp had all been making films for years, although Powell is probably best known for the "Thin Man" series, a couple years after this one. The girlfriend, lovely, 25 year old Knapp certainly was a busy girl; she was in twelve films in 1932 alone! Lots of clever jokes written into this con-man farce, and the timing is great. Show has a fast pace, mixups like taxi-drivers and taxidermists, and fun characters like Alison Skipworth , who plays the rich, silly Mrs. Miller, (who had worked with W.C. Fields on FOUR films... I was guessing she might have worked with the Marx brothers, but it appears not) They all keep this Warner Brothers shortie (72 minutes) moving right along! A jealous girlfriend, a competitor, Mr. Banks, and the Attorney General all keep Gar Evans (Powell) on his toes. Of course, what madcap show is complete without a zany professor?? Can Powell get out of trouble with the law? and it all stays pretty clean, in spite of being made prior to enforcement of the Hays code. Fun!

William Powell has a great time in this Pre-Code comedy about a promoter who gets involved with an invention that can supposedly turn sewage into rubber. Powell's pretty much the entire movie has he hawks this "too good to be true" product, making many false promises along the way. When it turns out the scientist who invented the product is crazy, Powell appears to be in big trouble.

George Sidney, Guy Kibbee, and Frank McHugh offer good support. Evelyn Brent is not a particularly strong leading lady for Powell but she does okay. It's a talky movie but it moves along at a quick pace with fun dialogue from Powell & company. A great showcase for William Powell's talents.

William Powell is at his peak in this madcap financial comedy. His high-voltage energy eclipses the other actors, although most are more than competent. From the brief synopsis I read, I was expecting more of a screwball comedy, centering on the relationship between Powell and Evelyn Brent. The movie turned out to be more of a hard-hitting satire, focussing on the deep economic troubles of 1932. How funny is it to hear references to "bank presidents committing suicide"? Evelyn Brent seems completely mismatched to Powell. Totally lacking charisma in this movie, she seems more like a depressed, real-life person than the incandescent beauty without whom Powell cannot perform his flimflam miracles. Great movie for Powell fans, but seems a bit too much of a history lesson, overall. Slightly risqué pre-Code touches are entertaining.

William Powell has his latest company to promote when Frank McHugh and George Sidney bring him a man with a process to turn garbage into rubber.... except they can't find the man.

It's based on a Broadway comedy, and Powell gives an air of setting the pace with his stately flow of words and broad gestures, while Warner's large company of contract players, including Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee.... well, everyone, it seems except Cagney, Arliss, O'Brien, and Joan Blondell show up to take or be taken. It's so chock full of character comedians that leading lady and second-billed Evelyn Brent gets about four minutes of screen time.

The pace lets up in the final twenty minutes, as often happens with comedies; after all, there's a plot to be resolved. However the first half hour is tremendously funny.

William Powell stars as Gar Evans, a fast talking "promoter". He gets to make an entrance in this film, as the first part of it is Gar's partner Mike Donahey (Frank McHugh) looking all over town for him. The reason is that a man (George Sidney as Mr. Ginsburg) has a contact who says he can make rubber out of sewage, and since the idea is one that nobody would take seriously, a promoter is needed to put this new startup company before the public in a serious way. Gar believes that Ginsburg's statements are true, but goes about decorating the new "company" behind it with exaggerations such as putting the company in a grand suite of offices it does not need, employing an army of salesmen who have nothing to sell at this point, hiring a professional CEO who often lives on skid row between Gar's CEO gigs, etc. Of course behind all of this is the belief that the day will come when there is something to sell, that the stock will be worth something, and that there will be rubber manufactured. Complications ensue as Gar treads on the edge of legality.

William Powell's romantic interest in this film is played by Evelyn Brent, and I rather wonder why. Brent was never under contract to Warner Brothers as frequent costar Kay Francis was, and sound had brought her previously lucrative silent film career to a halt. Brent did not have a terrible accent like some of the old silent stars, but she did speak in a rather lifeless monotone which is especially noticeable when you are up against Warner Brothers' stock company as she is here. Maybe Powell was trying to give his old Paramount colleague's career a needed boost?

Although William Powell in topic comedic form makes this movie, special recognition needs to go to George Sidney as the "owner" of the rubber company. He spends the entire film trying to keep pace with Powell's spiel, and he is constantly muttering pointed quips or confused questions in his Jewish dialect just to drive that point home.