Warner Baxter, Philips Holmes, Myrna Loy, Mae Clarke, and Charles Butterworth star in "Penthouse," a 1933 film directed by W.S. Van Dyke.
Baxter plays an attorney who is called on to help young Holmes when he's accused of killing his fiancée. That afternoon, she was the attorney's girlfriend, but she didn't like him taking mob-related cases. So she went out and got engaged.
Loy doesn't come into the film right away. She plays a party girl (hostess/prostitute) whom Jackson wants to talk to, as she was a friend of the victim's and can offer some details about the case. So he takes her back to his place, and she stays, to her surprise, in a separate bedroom when it's too late to go home.
Good acting and a good pace are appreciated here, but Loy was much too refined to have been in that sort of job. Mae Clarke was more on the money. Loy looked beautiful, and believe me, that was a feat. Her gown was beyond hideous. White (or some light color) with an enormous black velvet bow that went the width of her chest and was attached to the gown by a diagonal strap in the back and attached to her black velvet belt in front. Someone ate too much Chinese food, went to bed, and dreamt up that nightmare.
Despite this, Loy certainly had a presence and a serene beauty. But with that educated, well-modulated voice and all that grace, it seems odd she hadn't married some big-wig and was instead entertaining the customers at a bar.
MGM had a tendency to put gloss over everything, so this movie doesn't have the Warner Brothers gangster sleaze element that it needs.
Baxter plays an attorney who is called on to help young Holmes when he's accused of killing his fiancée. That afternoon, she was the attorney's girlfriend, but she didn't like him taking mob-related cases. So she went out and got engaged.
Loy doesn't come into the film right away. She plays a party girl (hostess/prostitute) whom Jackson wants to talk to, as she was a friend of the victim's and can offer some details about the case. So he takes her back to his place, and she stays, to her surprise, in a separate bedroom when it's too late to go home.
Good acting and a good pace are appreciated here, but Loy was much too refined to have been in that sort of job. Mae Clarke was more on the money. Loy looked beautiful, and believe me, that was a feat. Her gown was beyond hideous. White (or some light color) with an enormous black velvet bow that went the width of her chest and was attached to the gown by a diagonal strap in the back and attached to her black velvet belt in front. Someone ate too much Chinese food, went to bed, and dreamt up that nightmare.
Despite this, Loy certainly had a presence and a serene beauty. But with that educated, well-modulated voice and all that grace, it seems odd she hadn't married some big-wig and was instead entertaining the customers at a bar.
MGM had a tendency to put gloss over everything, so this movie doesn't have the Warner Brothers gangster sleaze element that it needs.