Penthouse (1933)

A lawyer (Warner Baxter) is notorious for defending gangsters. So much so that his law firm asks him to resign. But when a friend (Phillips Holmes) is accused of murdering a party girl (Mae Clarke), the attorney accepts the case and takes up with a call girl (Myrna Loy) in helping solve the murder. Based on the novel by Arthur Somers Roche and directed by W.S. Van Dyke (SAN FRANCISCO). This crime movie has the advantage of being a pre-code film which allows them to make it very clear what Loy's profession is and Loy is the reason to watch the movie. This was the kind of potboilers that MGM were assigning Loy until she was rescued the next year with THE THIN MAN (1934) and moved up to MGM's A list stars. The film is entertaining in its own B movie way although it's not very good but in addition to Loy, there are two supporting performances that stand out: Mae Clarke makes the most of her brief part before she's killed off and Nat Pendleton as a racketeer brought a smile to my lips whenever he popped up. With Charles Butterworth, Martha Sleeper, C. Henry Gordon and Theresa Harris.