Penthouse

Audience Reviews

View All (7) audience reviews

Audience Member “Oh, I cawn’t, cawn’t I?” This movie with Myrna Loy is one of the best crime movies from the 1930’s. It’s filled with suspense and comedy as well as memorable lines. Definitely a must-see! Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/24/18 Full Review Audience Member Fine pre-code comedy/crime drama I'd never really heard of before, but is well worth watching. From director W. S. Van Dyke about mob lawyer Warner Baxter teaming up with call-girl Myrna Loy to take down a rival mobster. Besides being a tight and entertaining story, the pre-code elements were a lot of fun as well, which includes one female character being introduced with nothing on except for a towel, Loy's profession being described as "The kind you can take home for dinner and no hard feelings if you don't ask her to stay for breakfast." Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 01/31/23 Full Review Audience Member Enjoyable. Snappy dialog up. Myrna Loy. Friendly mobsters. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/05/23 Full Review Audience Member 'Penthouse' tells the story of a lawyer who loses his job and then his fiancé because he defended a gangster, but who then gets called it to help the same woman when her new boyfriend is framed for murder by a rival gang. It has a reasonably tight script and is well cast, with Warner Baxter playing the lawyer and Myrna Loy as the gangster's moll, a 'bad girl' with glittering eyes who he quite understandably falls for. Despite the company he keeps, however, he's a virtuous man - he won't take bad money, he stands up for the accused even when his life is ominously threatened, and when Loy sleeps over at his place, it's just that, sleeping over (much to her surprise). I think the film is pretty good but doesn't really stand out because it's too polished - the gangsters have gentlemanly attributes, far from Cagney's more realistic portrayal, and for all their pre-Code banter, the romantic exchanges lack real passion, with the exception of Mae Clarke (in a minor role), whose reaction when she's jilted is quite good. I suppose that's just it - Loy is very beautiful, but not quite right, whereas Clarke nails it. Not horrible, no major plot holes, nothing to really pan, and if you're a Loy or Baxter fan it may be worth watching - but you could do better. Rated 3/5 Stars •  Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/13/23 Full Review Audience Member So-so gangland murder story, with the lovely Myrna Loy in a trial run here for her later role as Nora Charles. Loy's sassy mistress-with-a-heart-of-gold is the best thing about the film, really - Warner Baxter's not very charismatic, and the plot seems more convoluted than it needs to be. Rated 2.5/5 Stars •  Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars 01/16/23 Full Review Audience Member Pre-code gem featuring the charming Warner Baxter and the ever alluring Myrna Loy. Baxter plays a lawyer who has been getting flack for defending shady characters. His former girl finds herself in a bit of a pickle when her fiance is caught in a murder rap. She asks the lawyer for his assistance and he is soon on the case and perhaps in over his head. Good Hammett-esque dialogue, quick pace and a memorable assortment of characters make this a fine example of early 30s Hollywood cinema. Rated 4/5 Stars •  Rated 4 out of 5 stars 02/09/23 Full Review Read all reviews

Penthouse

My Rating

Read More Read Less POST RATING WRITE A REVIEW EDIT REVIEW