Skyscraper Souls (1932)

Director:

Edgar Selwyn

Writers:

Faith Baldwin (novel)
C. Gardner Sullivan (adaptation)

Release Date:

16 July 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Romance

Plot:

An entrepreneur will let nothing stand in his way of acquiring a 100-story office building.

Plot Keywords:

Secretary | Finance | Skyscraper | Stock | Financial Crisis

Cast

  (Complete credited cast)

Warren William	...	David 'Dave' Dwight
Maureen O'Sullivan	...	Lynn Harding
Gregory Ratoff	...	Mr. Vinmont
Anita Page	...	Jenny LeGrande
Verree Teasdale	...	Sarah Dennis
Norman Foster	...	Tom Shepherd
George Barbier	...	Charlie Norton
Jean Hersholt	...	Jacob 'Jake' Sorenson
Wallace Ford	...	Slim
Hedda Hopper	...	Ella Dwight
Helen Coburn	...	Myra
John Marston	...	Bill
William H. O'Brien	...	Waiter Tom Bumps Into (as William O'Brien)

Also Known As:

Skyscraper (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Company:

Cosmopolitan Productions

Trivia:

American Film Institute Catalog of Feature Films 1931-1940 identifies Arnold Lucy as playing Hamilton; actually, Lucy plays one of the other bankers, and William Morris plays Hamilton.

Quotes:

Jake Sorenson: Oh golly, I can't believe it. Am I dreaming?
Jenny LeGrande: Well, where do you want to be pinched?

Movie Connections:

Featured in Thou Shalt Not: Sex, Sin and Censorship in Pre-Code Hollywood (2008) (TV)

Soundtrack:

Singin in the Rain (1929)

Solid Pre-Code Melodrama

"Skyscraper Souls" is something of a poor man's "Grand Hotel." Instead of the Barrymore brothers, Greta Garbo, Wallace Beery, and Joan Crawford, we get Warren William, Jean Hersholt, Hedda Hopper, and Maureen O'Sullivan, but as was often the case in the 30s, MGM's second team plays as well as their first.

For all its stars, "Grand Hotel" now seems pretty creaky and its characters generally not very engaging. The Weimar Berlin setting doesn't help matters; you can almost feel the sense of decay and resignation. "Skyscraper" is it's polar opposite. Although New York is in the grip of the Great Depression, you can't help but be swept up in the picture's vitality. The market may be crashing, but people haven't lost their spunk, especially William's ruthless tycoon, who's just thrown up a 100 story building - try finding one of those in Berlin.

"Skyscraper" moves at a fast pace and its multiple plot lines mesh together quite well. Although it was made 70 years ago, both the financial and romantic entanglements seem very modern. Dave Dwight certainly would be at home in today's board room and most of the women come across as surprisingly contemporary. They aren't exactly feminists, but these girls don't take things lying down.

Highly recommended to film buffs, students of the Depression era, and anyone who enjoys modern melodrama.