Evelyn Prentice (4 stars)

The team of William Powell and Myrna Loy made well over a dozen films together, many of them part of The Thin Man series.  But Powell and Loy didn't just shine as Nick and Nora Charles; on the contrary, they were magical in just about every film they did together.  The chemistry between them was fabulous...always.  My favorite of the Powell/Loy pairings is the 1934 drama Evelyn Prentice.

John and Evelyn Prentice are a happily married, socially prominent couple who seem to have it all.  However, as a high-powered defense attorney currently working on a high-profile case, John works round the clock, a practice which greatly grieves his loving wife.  In fact, as Evelyn tells a friend, the two seem to have dinner together only about once a week.  She longs for him to be home more.

Alone with friends one evening, Evelyn visits a nightclub, where she catches the eye of handsome ladies' man, Larry Kennard.  He immediately begins pursuing Evelyn, sending her books of poetry and invitations to tea.  Though her relationship with Larry is totally above board and quite innocent, Evelyn begins to feel that continuing to see him is unwise, so she decides to break things off.  However, after it begins to look as though John has been having an affair with his just-acquitted client (Rosalind Russell, in her film debut), Evelyn runs back to Larry.

In the end, though, Evelyn realizes that she cannot have an affair with Larry, so, once again, she tries to break things off, even asking him to return to her the letters she had written him.  Larry, however, sure that Evelyn will pay dearly to keep her innocent, yet easily-misconstrued letters, from reaching her husband, isn't willing to part with them.  Blackmail and subsequently murder then arrive on the scene.

As I said, Evelyn Prentice is my absolute favorite of the William Powell/Myrna Loy films.  While it might seem a bit strange to see them in dramatic roles, since they were fabulous in more lighthearted, comedic films, I think they both do an excellent job here.  Definitely, Powell and Loy were extremely versatile actors who excelled in all they did.

 By the way, today is Myrna Loy's birthday...her 106th.  Why not watch Evelyn Prentice---or any number of other fabulous films---in celebration of her.  Happy viewing!!