Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Brendon Jones It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

larry41onEbay As a pre-Code it has progressive ideas but by omission. Is she a party girl or just a lady out for fun chasing dangerous men? The plot and characters are fine and similar to many films of it's time and era, but for my money it all blossomed when Myrna lit-up the screen. Wow, that woman had presence and sex appeal! So I half-heartedly recommend it if you're a fan of the era or Miss Loy. And maybe if you expect less you'll find it better than I did. For me there are nearly 20 Myrna Loy titles I like much better. And Warner Baxter is better in his limited range. Spoiler: And the convoluted ending with the cops helping goes just too far.

David_Brown It is funny how Woody Van Dyke saw something in Myrna Loy that no one else saw, which was greatness. This film was the was the springboard to "Manhattan Melodrama" and "The Thin Man" (Both directed by Van Dyke). Now I have read some reviews of Gertie Waxted, and how she was a Call Girl/Gangster's Girl/Kept Woman. This is not the first time she played a character like this. Check her out as "Coco" in "Topaz". At least here, she marries Jackson Durant (Warner Baxter), in that film, she did not and she remained the mistress of Topaz (John Barrymore). Even in "Manhattan Melodrama" her Eleanor Packer was was a gangster's moll ('Blackie' Gallagher', played by Clark Gable), before being given over to Jim Wade (William Powell). Guess what? it happens here as well she belonged to Tony Gazotti (Nat Pendleton), and he gave her to Jackson Durant (Warner Baxter). Major spoilers: Like in "Melodrama" where Blackie ends up sacrificing himself for Jim and Eleanor Gazotti ends up dying to save Gertie and bring happiness to Durant (Different way, same result). On to the film itself, "Penthouse" is not "The Thin Man" or "Manhattan Melodrama", because it one small thing missing........ William Powell. But that does not mean this was not a great film, it certainly was, just not as good. Spoilers: One thing that I like is the relationship between the butler Layton (Charles Butterworth) and both Jackson and Gertie (Despite what they put him through (Especially Gertie (Look at his head)). This man loves the two of them (Despite having a wife and four kids of his own). I love the conversation between him and Gertie about this. What you also see is the loyalty he has towards Jackson, because after he essentially abandoned by his fiancé, Sue Leonard and the class of people he grew up with, he remained with him. Finally, I like Jackson's character a lot. He always does the right thing: Defending Gazotti when he is innocent, taking his ex-fiancé's new fiancé Tom Siddall (Phillips Holmes) case when he is framed for murder, refusing to take a $200,000 bribe to leave the case, and of course "Marrying Gertie until someone better comes along" (Which everyone knows will not). Finally, if you are a gangster film or Myrna Loy fan (And I am BOTH) this film is essential. As far as Warner Baxter is concerned, his switching from representing the elite of society (Such as the woman who gave a million to a dog during the Great Depression), to gangsters and chorus girls, would be repeated in his "Crime Doctor" series where he goes from being gangster Phillip Morgan to Criminal Psychologist Dr. Robert J. Ordway. This is probably his Second Best performance (Dr. Samuel Alexander Mudd in 'The Prisoner of Shark Island' comes first). I give it 10/10 stars.

MartinHafer This film was made a year before Myrna Loy catapulted to super-stardom with the Thin Man movies. At this point in her career, she was still a relatively unknown actress with a long but generally undistinguished track record. Warner Baxter, on the other hand, was the bigger star--with starring roles in 42ND STREET, THE CISCO KID (and its sequel) and THE SQUAW MAN.Stylistically, the film is actually a lot like Baxter's B-movie series, The Crime Doctor, though in this case he plays a defense attorney who investigates crimes instead of a criminal psychiatrist who investigates crimes. Additionally, PENTHOUSE has a bit more style, polish and better acting than the Columbia Pictures series.The film begins with Baxter getting a big-time hood off for a crime he apparently did not commit (for once). However, in a odd scene, the other lawyers in the practice vote him out because they don't want to be associated with such riffraff and attorneys who defend them (Ethics and a law practice?!?! What planet did these lawyers come from anyway?!?!). Additionally, Baxter's stuck up fiancée breaks it off with him because of the unsavory element he chooses to defend. However, Baxter really isn't a jerk lawyer--he just feels that IF the guy is actually innocent, he deserves a strong defense attorney (duh). But in this bizarre As I said above, this is a film with the odd idea of an attorney PERSONALLY investigating and solving crimes which his friends or clients are accused of committing. In reality, this never happens and I can't imagine Johnny Cochran or Robert Shapiro doing this and it's a cliché you just have to accept or else the film makes very little sense.Along for the ride are Loy, Nat Pendleton (in one of his better and richer supporting roles) and a variety of other familiar faces (including veteran B actor, George E. Stone). It won't change your life and is a tad silly, but so well done that it's easy to forgive and enjoy.By the way, having Myrna Loy stay in Baxter's apartment (even though they were in separate rooms) probably never would have gotten past the censors just one year later after the new Production Code would be enacted. Nor would a single man (Baxter) have been allowed to show a single girl around his bedroom.

bkoganbing As I started watching Penthouse this afternoon, I knew I had seen this before. It turns out I reviewed another remake of this film that MGM did in 1939 entitled Society Lawyer that starred Walter Pidgeon and Virginia Bruce playing the parts that Warner Baxter and Myrna Loy played here.The plot was pretty much the same, the screen writing team of Goodrich and Hackett dusted off the old script for the remake. One thing they did do was tone down the sexual innuendos so prevalent in Penthouse.Warner Baxter is an attorney for what we would now call a white shoe law firm who recently got gangster Nat Pendleton acquitted. Of course this law firm is not wanting Baxter doing criminal work for notorious and ethnic clients so Baxter is given the boot. Not that he cares really because he's wealthy enough himself. But he doesn't like it when girlfriend Mae Clarke does likewise. She's seeing Phillips Holmes now who's more her style.Later though when Holmes is accused of murder Baxter's services are needed and how. Baxter takes on Holmes as a client and his underworld connections prove valuable.If you've seen Society Lawyer, you know how this ends right down to how the murder was really committed and who did it.When I did the review for Society Lawyer I remarked that the film looked like a prototype for a series that Walter Pidgeon would have done with Herbert Mundin who played his butler. Charles Butterworth plays the butler here and also does a good job. The latter film turned out to be the last film Herbert Mundin did as he was killed in an automobile crash. Ironically enough so was Charles Butterworth. As Hackett and Goodrich also scripted the Thin Man film and it was also directed by Woody Van Dyke, this could easily have turned into a series like that for MGM. Problem was that Warner Baxter was not an MGM contract player. If he was I could have seen Myrna Loy, Warner Baxter, and Charles Butterworth doing a series.It took a year's wait, but Myrna Loy got into one of the most acclaimed movie series of all.