Myrna Loy had had appeared in over 70 films when she she was featured in Penthouse for WS "Hurry Up" Van Dyke who would go on to direct her in the highly successful Thin Man series. Its easy to see why. She's not to far from Nora Charles in this murder mystery that has her romanced by sleuth lawyer Warner Baxter who mirrors Nick Charles and his gravitation to nostagie de la boule in this warm up to her pairing with William Powell. Also on board are a garden variety of Runyonesque mugs, thugs and flatfoots that would also permeate the series.
On its own its a typical Van Dyke quickly paced tongue in cheek crime film that on many levels holds its own with the series since it cannot help but beg comparison. In doing so this lightly entertaining piece lacks the presence and chemistry of the dynamite pairing of Loy and Powell. Baxter is adequate but lacks Powell's energy, vitality and comedic abilities and while this may be an unfair way to judge it there is no ignoring in hindsight the vastly improved similar work that unintentionally obstructs my view of this Penthouse.
On its own its a typical Van Dyke quickly paced tongue in cheek crime film that on many levels holds its own with the series since it cannot help but beg comparison. In doing so this lightly entertaining piece lacks the presence and chemistry of the dynamite pairing of Loy and Powell. Baxter is adequate but lacks Powell's energy, vitality and comedic abilities and while this may be an unfair way to judge it there is no ignoring in hindsight the vastly improved similar work that unintentionally obstructs my view of this Penthouse.