Skyscraper Souls (1932) User Reviews

A mini Grand hotel

[preppy-3 · 8/10 · 14 October 2006]

Story about a 100 story skyscraper in New York--David Dwight (Warren William) helped finance the building but is running out of money. He needs more and will do anything to get it. Other characters in the movie are Jenny (Anita Page) a model who openly sleeps with guys for money; sweet virginal Lynn (Maureen O'Sullivan); Tom (Norman Foster) who loves Lynn--but Dwight wants her too; Sarah Dennis (Verree Teasdale) who is Dwight's mistress and Myra (Helen Coburn) who loves her husband but he can't find work..and Slim (Wallace Ford) wants her.

As you can see there are multiple story lines crisscrossing each other. The movie moves quick and is pre-Code meaning it was pretty open about adultery, sex, suicide and murder. Nothing TOO racy by today's standards (the TV rating is G) but pretty strong for 1932. The acting is good--William, O'Sullivan, Page and Teasdale come off best. No masterpiece of cinema but quick, fun and well worth searching out--TCM shows it occasionally. An 8.

Reaching for the stars.

[st-shot · 8/10 · 26 November 2010]

Ultra charming megalomaniac David Dwight (played by Warren William at his most dastardly) will stop at nothing to realize his dream of having total control of New York's tallest (it dwarfs the Empire State Building a few clouds down) skyscraper. By way of style and guile he leads investors into a trap in order to solidify his power base. A bit of a lecher as well he manages to seduce a new secretary who happens to be the niece of his executive secretary / mistress. Exuding ultra confidence Dwight triumphs in both arenas but soon finds himself out on a precarious ledge.

William plays Dwight with passionate bravado and gentle understanding. He charms everyone, including the audience for the first hour as he turns it on for investors and lovers with devastating results. His drive and ambition however bring out the Mr. Hyde in him as he callously jettisons both to achieve aim. William's, pitch perfect snake is greatly aided by William Daniel's cinematography which captures the strikingly lit futuristic slick and sleek interiors provided by Cedric Gibbons and company creating an ideal stage for Dwight's messianic harangues and seductions.

The supporting cast led by Gregory Ratoff, Verree Teasdale and Anita Page down to the minor supporting roles of duped investors are substantive and crucial. The film's biggest misstep is the handling of comic relief through Norman Foster's Harold Llyod like bank teller Romeo. Granted the film is dark but Forster (who would eventually go on to become the most commercially successful film director in history) is little more than obnoxiously abrasive and an annoying distraction.

In addition to the fine cast and luridly engrossing story line there is some powerful exterior imagery that makes for a powerhouse climax as well as the surrealistic image of the newly erected, inferior sized Empire that still has the same impact today.

Made prior to film censorship, Skyscraper Souls allows the conniving Dwight to vividly display his duplicity with élan and without regret. Released during the bleakest days of The Depression it is an uncompromisingly dark portrait for its time that still resonates eight decades later amid investment house failures and in personages that run from Trump to Madoff.

Exciting and seamy melodrama

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 19 July 2006]

This movie is almost like combining a soap opera like the TV show HOTEL and combining it with the 1930s film THE MATCH KING. This is because throughout this modern skyscraper, many stories involving infidelity and financial ruin abound. And, of all the tales, the most pervasive and impressive is the character Warren William plays--a guy who has leveraged his empire to the hilt and stands on the verge of great success or bankruptcy--much like William's true-life character from THE MATCH KING. The story also has a decent amount of sleaze compared to later films since it was made in the early days of the Hay Office that controlled violence and morals in films. In the early days, they weren't as strict and studios didn't take them all that seriously--this is VERY evident in this film as it pulls very few punches in telling this entertaining tale.

By the way, almost equally entertaining is another film that apparently is a re-working of this Warren William film. "Manhattan Tower" is a low-budget film with a heck of a lot of entertainment value despite its very low budget. Currently, you can watch or download this film through IMDb and compare it to "Skyscraper Souls". Wow...these two films would sure make a nice double-feature.

Has Relevance in Today's Economy

[dougdoepke · 4 January 2009]

Will innocent young Lynn Harding (O'Sullivan) give in to rich man Dave Dwight's (William) predatory advances or will she settle for working-man Tom Shepherd's (Foster) marriage proposal. This is the height of the Depression (1932), so maybe being a toy for a rich man is better than barely hanging on in a house with kids. But then, Dwight is one ruthless conniver. We see how he's topped the business pile through heartless double-cross and market manipulation. But he's also charming, handsome, and very persuasive. It's a tough situation for the fetching young Lynn to find herself in.

The movie itself would not work so well without the commanding presence of William who dominates even down to the sub-plots. It's his magnetism that keeps those rather weak sub-plots (Hersholt, Ratoff, Ford) from limping away from the core. Too bad that this fine actor died fairly young and is now largely forgotten. The cuddly O'Sullivan, too, shines in her role as the ingénue, showing how she could be both tough and winsome. No wonder Tarzan wanted her for a mate.

The plot resembles Employee's Entrance (1933), where William played a department store tycoon as unsympathetic as his role here. Skyscraper's high point comes when the supremely self-assured Dwight lords his triumph over business rivals in a startling 3-minute soliloquy to superior ruthlessness. Business has no ethics or rules, he asserts. Thus, he won the battle for the skyscraper's ownership by playing the game more ruthlessly and cleverly than his opponents. So instead of complaining, they should learn the hard lesson he has taught them if they want to succeed in the world of high finance. It's as clear a statement of Darwinist principles as any movie of the day, and likely confirmed audience suspicions on the nature of the economic crisis then threatening them. Just as in Employee's Entrance, I expect the audience comes to grudgingly admire William's clarity at the same time he's feared and loathed. Perhaps there's also insight into the odd mass appeal of those political strong men like Hitler and Mussolini then on the rise.

This is another of those pre-Code gems that deserves the kind of resurrection cable TV can give them. Note how casually marriage is treated by the upper echelon, especially by Dwight's little lesson on how physical separation guarantees a lasting partnership. Also, note how casually the innuendo drifts by, especially how a "Mrs. Kind", no less, has injured poor old Charlie Norton's back the night before. Then too, Dwight may be one heartless businessman, but he also pensions off ex-mistresses in pretty generous fashion. Unfortunately, honesty of this sort would soon disappear from the screen for decades courtesy the Motion Picture Code's effort at reinforcing the non-sexual and non-political in the face of increasingly restive Depression-era audiences.

Nonetheless, this is a movie to catch up with, along with the equally revealing Employee's Entrance from the same period. It's also a good window into one of the finest neglected performers of his time and before he got trapped into too many lightweight vehicles, the compelling Warren William.

Enjoy all Warren William's movies.

[Barbaralee · 7/10 · 9 May 2000]

Next to William Powell, Warren William is my most favorite actor and it is a treat to see each of their films again and again. These two men (to me) represent the true meaning of "actor."

"Skyscraper Souls" was one more opportunity for Mr. William to show his acting ability to make you either totally adore or totally deplore his character.

High-Rise Drama In Neglected Film

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 22 July 2000]

Utterly ruthless & immoral, the owner of New York's tallest building plots & schemes to keep control of his creation, trampling upon anyone who gets in his way. Others working in the great colossus also live lives of drama & everyday excitement. All these SKYSCRAPER SOULS will soon find themselves bound together by greed, lust, betrayal, suicide & murder.

Practically screaming its pre-Production Code status, this neglected film is rather fascinating in the risqué development of its plot. Sex, both leering & suggested, plays an important role in the story. By making its hero a man both charming & completely treacherous, open to any underhand suggestion, it makes a lie out of Louis B. Mayer's assertion that all of MGM's product was family friendly. Even today, this is potent, powerful material. And absolutely engaging.

Warren William is almost distressingly good as the unscrupulous building owner, around whom much of the action revolves. His blunt dishonesty almost makes chicanery respectable.

The rest of the cast is equally proficient:

Maureen O'Sullivan as a naive young secretary lusted over by William & loved by brash bank clerk Norman Foster.

Gregory Ratoff, hilarious as a harried dressmaker.

Anita Page as a brash prostitute/model beloved by noble jeweler Jean Hersholt.

Verree Teasdale, William's mistress for 12 years, finally pushed to the breaking point.

Wallace Ford as a radio announcer, tragically driven to desperation by his love of unhappily married Helen Coburn.

George Barbier as a jolly fat debauchee, one of William's eventual financial victims.

And Hedda Hopper, William's absent, knowing wife - very content with his money, but not his company.

Movie mavens will also recognize Billy Gilbert as a lobby cigarette stand owner, Edward Brophy & Doris Lloyd as the man & woman in the elevator.

Warren William is an unscrupulous executive in pre-code melodrama...

[Doylenf · 7/10 · 5 October 2010]

This Depression-era melodrama from MGM in the '30s contains several strong performances and interesting plot elements that place it among the better "big business" stories that Hollywood loves to make about ethics and morality. It's a forerunner of other such films, such as "Executive Suite" but has even more bite despite some of the dated elements of the story.

WARREN WILLIAM is convincing as the owner of the world's tallest building who will stoop to anything to keep control of his luxurious hi-rise, which includes a swanky bachelor pad for his affair with his personal assistant (VERREE TEASDALE).

A subplot involves the affair between MAUREEN O'SULLIVAN and a man in hot pursuit (NORMAN FOSTER), a bank teller who has trouble keeping her to himself once she is noticed by the wealthy William. It's one of O'Sullivan's best early roles (before she became Tarzan's Jane), and she does extremely well in it except for the way she jabs away at the keyboard as an office typist, which is almost laughable.

Several strands of plot are smoothly entwined and lead toward a very melodramatic ending involving Warren William and his mistress. HEDDA HOPPER pops in once in awhile as William's wife who is always looking for a handout so she can keep a villa in Italy.

After a shocking conclusion, there's a bittersweet ending for O'Sullivan and Foster. His extroverted character is a bit annoying at times but he certainly is a lively presence during the proceedings.

This is an undiscovered gem worth seeking out if you're a fan of stories about big business. It's a sort of "Grand Hotel" in its own way.

A Pre-Code delight

[Rambler · 9/10 · 2 March 1999]

Made before "the code" removed all "offensive" material from American movies, Skyscraper Souls combines the social commentary of a Warner Bros. film, the class of an MGM production, and the sleaziness of a pulp novel. Warren Williams, a great but sadly overlooked actor, is perfect as the nice-but-slimy David Dwight, bank entrepreneur, who has built a 100-story monument to himself and doesn't have the $30,000,000 to pay for it. How he gets the money and what happens to those who unwittingly fall into his trap, constitutes the main thrust of the narrative. The film is full of diverse characters, all trying to eek out a living in the towering Dwight Bldg. The many plotlines cross and criss-cross, and the end is more realistic than one would expect from a "Hollywood" film. Watch for it on TCM, or on Laserdisc, in the "Forbidden Hollywood" set.

High rise with soul

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 25 June 2020]

'Skyscraper Souls' had a good deal going for it. Really liked the idea of the story on paper and while its ideas may not be original they are always interesting. There are a lot of fine to excellent pre-code films out there, and it is always amazing at how much a lot of pre-code films got away with and still don't come over as too tame today. The cast is a good one with all having given good performances in other films, the biggest name being Warren William.

On the most part, 'Skyscraper Souls' lives up to its potential. It doesn't quite fully succeed or exceed the quite high expectations had before watching, with not everything in the story working, but those expectations as one can guess were far from wasted at the same time. It is a powerful and ahead of the time film with almost all the cast doing a great job and it is a shame in a way that Edgar Selwyn did so few films, 'Skyscraper Souls' did show he had directing talent in him.

Am going to start with the many positives. It is stylishly photographed and fluidly edited. The building itself is like a character of its own. It's nicely scored without going overboard on the melodrama or treacle. The script is sharp and thought-provoking, with some surprisingly risque lines. The story had a lot of interesting and daring subjects to cover and doesn't trivialise any of them, they are far from tame now (though would have caused even more of a stir back then) and have relevance still now. The climax is admittedly very melodramatic but is also very emotionally powerful. Selwyn directs with an assured touch.

Best of all is the cast, dominated by a truly terrific William at his most despicable (character-wise that is) and in one of my favourite performances of his. Maureen O'Sullivan does innocence with charm and pathos, without being too sugary sweet or simpering. Veree Teasdale has perhaps the most sympathetic character and is affecting in it, while Anita Page and Gregory Ratoff are amusingly colourful support.

There is an exception though cast-wise, Norman Foster. For my tastes, he really irritated me and overplays his brash character and doesn't have much personality either. Did not care for his subplot, which was very silly and felt like padding that was dull and not needed.

While the story is generally fine, it did at times feel over-stuffed and like it tried to do too much.

In summary, very impressive even if it didn't quite wow me over. 7/10

Wonderful Pre-Code Film, Racy Even Today

[mrb1980 · 9/10 · 23 November 2006]

This movie is a great example--of one of the best--of Pre-Code film-making in the early 1930s. Warren William plays an incredibly unscrupulous businessman who controls a high-rise building in New York. He's having an affair with his married assistant, lusts after secretary Maureen O'Sullivan, cheats all of his business partners, and illegally manipulates stock prices, leading to a startling and tragic end. There's also great support from Anita Page and Verree Teasdale.

Along the way is some of the most raw and racy pre-Code stuff around, including leering sex and some very lively dialogue. My only objection is Norman Foster's character, who is so clumsy and oafish that he makes Jerry Lewis look tame by comparison. Still a great experience, just listen carefully for some very off-color remarks by William.

Suggestive precode

[blanche-2 · 6/10 · 26 June 2015]

"Skyscraper Souls" is a precode film, from 1932, starring Warren William, Maureen O'Sullivan, Verree Teesdale, Anita Page, Norman Foster, Gregory Ratoff, and Jean Hersholt.

This is the "Grand Hotel" of an office building, centering on Warren William, who plays ruthless businessman David Dwight. Dwight owns a large Manhattan skyscraper, the Seacoast National Bank Building, possibly based on the Empire State Building - it's a deco building and the lobby looks very similar. The Empire State Building opened a year before this film went into production.

Maureen O'Sullivan plays an attractive young woman who works in the building. Norman Foster is Tom, the fresh bank teller after her, but she's a little more ambitious than his income can provide at the moment.

Dwight is married but fools around. O'Sullivan is Lynn Harding, who is a protégé of Dwight's secretary Sarah, who has worked for Dwight for years. She really is a mother figure to Lynn.

Dwight becomes interested in Lynn, which turns Tom against her, though nothing has happened. She becomes angry that he doesn't trust her.

Dwight, who will stop at nothing to get what he wants, destroys a lot of people in a stock manipulation so he can gain full control of the skyscraper.

Due to Tom and Lynn fighting, Lynn now returns Dwight's interest in her. Sarah tries to stop it.

Lots of sexual innuendo in this movie, and it leaves open the question of whether Lynn and Dwight got together. It seems that they did. She is ready to travel with him by ship. That's all I'll say about the ending.

Good performances, with William just as cold as he could be, telling Verree Teasdale she had outlived her usefulness as his mistress because of her advanced age. She was 29.

Quite dramatic and a good watch.

Skyscraper....

[mollylou · 10/10 · 12 October 2006]

I absolutely loved every square foot of this movie and want to own a copy of it. It could be remade today and be a huge hit. Maureen O'Sullivan was gorgeous, the dialog was witty, the plot line complex...it had so many modern qualities, I had to rub my eyes to make sure I was watching a 30's film. I give it a thumbs up. Loved the nefarious banker, "Dave", Hedda Hopper as the dilettante wife...loved the long suffering assistant...loved Shep the jilted lover. Loved it all. It was an eerie look into the stock market crash leading up to the great depression, and of the heights and desperation the human soul can reach during trying times. The ending was literally a cliff hanger. Whew - I could not believe it! A Boffo hit! I give it two thumbs up.

Boris Karloff spotted at the 20 minute mark

[kevinolzak · 7/10 · 3 July 2022]

1932 was quite a year for MGM, what with the success of "Grand Hotel" and its numerous imitators like "Skyscraper Souls," among Warren William's most noteworthy vehicles as moviegoers' beloved pre-Code wolf. Faith Baldwin's 1931 novel "Skyscraper" celebrated the completion of the Empire State Building and its 102 floors (soon immortalized by "King Kong"), and here the Dwight building owned by David Dwight (William) stands at 100, fully determined to put his own investors out of business so long as he retains total control. Depression audiences were fascinated by such machinations, Maureen O'Sullivan as the secretary balancing William's wooing with the jealousy of new beau Norman Foster, with William's trusting lover Verree Teasdale constantly put off by his marital status with distant spouse Hedda Hopper. Older businessmen played by Jean Hersholt and George Barbier are shown flirting with much younger girls, often seen in their undergarments, another subject that would bring in the crowds until 1934, Maureen O'Sullivan already famous for racy material as Jane opposite Johnny Weissmuller as "Tarzan the Ape Man." One mystery that went completely unnoticed for 80 years is the unexpected presence of Boris Karloff, mere months removed from sudden stardom as The Monster in James Whale's "Frankenstein," whose appearance at the 20 minute mark is so minute it can only be described as a walk on lasting only two seconds, the camera cutting away just as we recognize him. Obviously there was more to it but sadly deleted prior to release, shot while he was engaged in pre production on "The Mask of Fu Manchu," as much a curio for buffs as any one of his 57 silent performances.

Could have been so much better...

[samhill5215 · 5/10 · 14 October 2010]

I've seen this film twice now and I've come to the same conclusion: it could have been so much better had the film-makers left out the stereotypes. For instance: Maureen O'Sullivan's character falls in love with the obnoxious character played by Norman Foster. Why? Because he offers to marry her and she is so anxious to do so? She doesn't care who she marries? How did she get over her initial instincts to reject him? Does anyone know a woman who could be wooed by a jerk who takes her things to keep her from leaving and can't take 'NO' for an answer? That whole subplot was ridiculous to say the least and it so dominated the picture that the interesting parts were completely overshadowed.

To be truthful the film does have its good points. The relationship between Dwight (Warren William) and his wife (Hedda Hopper) and mistress (Verree Teasdale) is very adult and handled well. Although the stock swindle is on the simplistic side at least it exposed stockbrokers and financiers for the unethical thieves we now take for granted. The dynamic between the diamond broker (Jean Hersholt) and the model (Anita Page) is also very well done and it's resolution is among the high points of the film and sentimental to boot.

In the acting department William outdid himself. His character is absolutely despicable and I can't think of a better actor to play the part. Of the rest the female leads (O'Sullivan, Page, Teasdale) were all well acted but it was William who was the indisputable star and the film is worth looking at just for him.

Skyscraper Souls is a witty and provocative look at business in the 1930's

[miller-4 · 12 June 2000]

Skyscraper Souls is a witty and provocative look at business in the early 1930's. Full of risque and snappy comments, the movie is a fascinating look at a building and how its builder worked to keep it.

The cast is brilliant led by Warren William as an astute but unscrupulous banker. Verree Teasdale is very sharp as Williams' lovely adminstrative aide. Her mature attitude towards Williams' advances is a highlight of the picture. She accepts that she will never be his wife, even though she loves him. He is too busy maintaining appearences, even though his wife and he are never together. Hedda Hopper is delightful as the wife who maintains a relationship from another continent, but comes to see William for money from time to time.

A subplot involving Maureen O'Sullivan and Norman Foster is rather annoying.

There is social commentary here as the workers in the building attempt to make a living while the big businessmen play with millions of dollars.

The movie is sexy too. A scene with Jean Hersholt and Anita Page is very suggestive as are some scenes with Warren William and Verree Teasdale.

Overall, the movie is very interesting and moves very quickly.

The House that Dwight built

[sol-kay · 7/10 · 7 October 2010]

***SPOILERS*** Having had built the biggest building in the world the 100 story Dwight Building it's creator David Dwight, Warren William,is now on the brink of losing it to his creditors, the banks, whom he owes 30 million dollars that he doesn't have. In fact Dwight is in far more trouble then that in having used the depositors in his bank, The Seacoast Bank, cash as collateral a big no no in the financial world; Using others people's money for personal gain.This can land Dwight being bars for a long long stretch!

While all this is going on the happy go lucky Dwight is playing the field with his cute 20 year-old secretary the tea toting and innocent Lynn Harding, Maureen O'Sullivan, who's good friend and mentor, who in fact got Lynn her job, Sarah Dennis, Verree Teasdale, happens to be Dwight's personal secretary. It's Sarah who knows where all the bodies that her boss had destroyed over the years are buried!

Even though Lynn is anything but interested in having an affair with her butt grabbing boss Mr. Dwight he manages to get her drunk on champaign one evening when she was working overtime in the office and corrupted her to the point when her equally obnoxious boyfriend bank teller, at Dwight's Seacoast Tank, Tom Shepard, Norman Foster,dumped her as well. In Tom feeling that Lynn felt that she was too good for him because he was just a commoner or working stiff.

Back to business Dwight now with his back to the wall and facing total financial ruin, as well as jail time, he concocts this plan to wipe out all his debts as well as his enemies in the financial world. This is done with the cahoots of Dwight's partner in crime Hamilton, William Morris, who's plan is to push up the price of Seacoast Inc.to $350.00,from $250.00 a share, and then sell it leaving everyone who bought the stock, which includes his banker enemies, high and dry as well as wiped out financially.

***SPOILERS*** This diabolical scheme on Dwight's part works to perfection leaving him in total control of his beloved, which he put his heart and soul as well as money into, Dwight Bulding but causes a good number of people who bought Seacoast inc to end up killing themselves. One of them being Harrington Brewster, Punnell Pratt, one of Dwight's banker friends whom he accused of pulling the stock sham that Dwight in fact pulled off!

The final insult that Dwight tried to pull off was his attempt to take off with Lynn on a cruise to Europe and the warm and sunny Mediterranean while laving his loyal personal secretary Sarah Dennis out in the cold. This has Sarah blow her stack and finally blow Dwight away with the revolver he gave her as a present for Christmas. Knowing that she now has nothing to live for Sarah jumps off the top of the Dwight Building killing herself.

P.S The movie does in fact have a happy ending with both Lynn and Tom trying the knot and Dwight's widow Ella, Hedda Hopper, selling the Dwight Building that cause all the pain and suffering in it.

Towering achievement

[MikeMagi · 9/10 · 3 September 2012]

It's hard to believe that "Skyscraper Souls" was made only three years after the advent of sound. The complex, fluid production is set in the offices, elevators, shops and crowded lobby of a New York wonder, a skyscraper that towers over the nearby Empire State Building. It's the brainchild -- and obsession -- of banker Warren William who will do anything to keep it under his control. If that takes bankrupting his closest friends and allies, so be it. When not masterminding a shady stock manipulation, Williams is busily plotting how to dump his mistress, Verree Teasdale, in favor of a newly-hired, naive young secretary, Maureen O'Sullivan. The result is a surprisingly sophisticated portrait of ruthless ambition that could easily have been made today. And probably not as well. Among the stand-out cast members are Anita Page as a model-cum-hooker who can't believe that a decent man would want to marry her, Jean Hershholt as a lovelorn jeweler, future director Norman Foster as O'Sullivan's brash young boy friend, and Hedda Hopper (yes, that Hedda Hopper) as Williams' wife who's happy not to interfere in his extra-curricular love life as long as he writes out large checks.

Oof that bank teller was annoying

[gbill-74877 · 6/10 · 27 May 2016]

After watching enough of these pre-Code movies, you begin to notice a few recurring themes: women in lingerie for one contrived reason or another, references to an unmarried couple having had sex by showing them having breakfast, and men who aren't inclined to take 'no' for an answer, continuing to badger or paw a woman until she consents to go out with him. You'll find all of those things in 'Skyscraper Souls', an average movie for the time period which held my interest, but was not exceptional.

Warren William plays the part of an executive whose passion is to erect and own a giant skyscraper, and he does well in the role. His character seems nice enough on the surface, well-spoken and polite, but it turns out that he'll do anything to get what he wants, including screw over his business partners, and tell his long-time mistress (a woman in the office) that he'd love to get married to her, but his wife won't consent to a divorce – when in fact he hasn't asked her for one. Hedda Hopper is fantastic as his wife, by the way, in the small role she has. When he notices his mistress's secretary, played by the lithe Maureen O'Sullivan, he starts putting the moves on her. O'Sullivan is also being aggressively pursued by a very annoying bank teller (Norman Foster) who she (somehow, painfully, argh) starts falling for, thus setting up one of the movie's conflicts.

One of the problems the movie has is that none of the characters are all that likable. That's not a requirement for a great film of course, and it's nice to see nuance and realism – but in this case, when it's heading for the ending it's heading for, it's hard to feel what the director Edgar Selwyn is trying to make us feel. Another problem is that it's a bit of muddled mix of drama and romantic comedy, which meanders about. The parts that relate to the corporate scheming bog down, although the insider trading and stock speculation is mildly interesting given it was just a few years after the great stock market crash. Overall, though, it's just a bit jumbled. Watch it for Warren William's smooth evil, and for the spirited and beautiful Maureen O'Sullivan, and you may enjoy it more than I did.

"Grand Hotel" of Big Business!!!

[kidboots · 10/10 · 10 March 2010]

Maureen O'Sullivan was MGM's favourite ingenue and she was used quite frequently throughout the 30s. Her most famous role was as the refined Jane to Johnny Weismuller's Tarzan of the Apes but she was usually around as a sweet young thing in such high quality films as "The Thin Man" (1934), "The Barretts of Wimpole Street" (1934), "David Copperfield" (1935) and "Anna Karenina" (1936). "Skyscraper Souls" provides her with a different type of role. In this "Grand Hotel" of the business world she plays the mercenary Lynn who is drawn to Dwight and the luxury he can give her.

Tom (Norman Foster), a brash and pretty obnoxious bank teller, tries to pick up pretty Lynn Harding (a ravishing Maureen O'Sullivan) but she doesn't fall for his "charms" - she only has eyes for her boss, the cold and ruthless David Dwight (Warren William). Sarah (Verree Teasdale) is Dwight's secretary and former mistress, who has taken Lynn under her wing. Dwight wants to merge with Seacoast Bank because he stands to lose his entire fortune if he doesn't - it means retrenchment of workers but he doesn't care!!! "The Flat-Iron Building....the Dwight building could put it in it's vest pocket"!! He sees that Sarah is looked after with a trust account of $100,000!!! Lynn works late and finds herself at Dwight's party, where he plies her with champagne until she forgets where she is and falls asleep in Dwight's bed. Sarah gives Tom a tip to put all his money in Seacoast shares - he has been complaining about the fact that he is too poor to tempt Lynn.

Dwight, though, is going to sell short - and that sets the film up for a climax as the market fails and lives are ruined. Myra (Helen Coburn) is broke and goes to Slim (Wallace Ford) in desperation. Slim gambles on the stock market and loses everything and in his despair prepares to rob Jake (Jean Hersholt) a jeweller. Slim is accidentally locked in the time lock safe - he is dead when it is opened the next day. Helen Coburn must take the award as the most callous young woman in films. Desperate to get away from her husband Bill (who seems like a nice chap in the couple of scenes he has) she thinks nothing of going off with Bill and saying nothing about Slim, knowing that he is locked in the vault. Another couple, who do make a go of it are Jenny LeGrande (Anita Page) a model/prostitute and Jake, a jeweller. Typical racy dialogue exchange between them - Jake "you shouldn't gamble...I can afford it, I'm in a very old business", Jenny "Yeah?? Well so am I"!!!

Sarah confronts Dwight about his involvement with Lynn - they are already planning to go away together with Lynn posing as his "ward". Of course at the end Lynn falls into Tom's arms - she has shown that she is completely mercenary and a gold-digger, so who knows if they will be happy. Warren William is his usual perfect self - he had a habit of playing ruthless, chauvinistic men ("Beauty and the Boss" (1932), "Upperworld" (1934)) but still making you like and admire him. Aside from Warren William, Verree Teasdale gave the best performance in the film as the loyal but cast off mistress.

Highly, Highly Recommended.

Go for the money

[AAdaSC · 7/10 · 15 November 2019]

That's my advice to assistant Maureen O'Sullivan (Lynn) in this tale. Wealthy boss Warren William (Dwight) owns the tallest building in town and this film recounts various stories and plotlines that are interwoven with life in this building. It is a much better film than "Grand Hotel" from the same year. The boss fancies O'Sullivan and can set her up for life - it's a no-brainer. However, she is held back by the awful Norman Foster (Tom) who irritatingly pursues her in such an embarrassing way that the audience has no option but to dislike him. And she falls for him!!? This film loses marks for both those ridiculous elements. Outside of that stupid relationship which should really go nowhere, the storylines involving the boss and how he runs his business are very interesting. His relationship with his wife Hedda Hopper (Ella) is also to be admired. They get on perfectly! A lot happens in this film - plenty of drama, so keep watching. There is quite a memorable ending, especially for secretary Verree Teasdale (Sarah) and there are a couple who try to pull off a robbery that comes to no good. Don't go in the safe!

This film wins hands down over Grand Hotel (with its stellar cast) and actually provides you with a role model in Warren William. Yes he's arrogant and ruthless, conniving and vain - anyone see a resemblance to Donald Trump? Actually, there's a resemblance to many more individuals than the current President. He epitomizes all narcissistic psycopaths. He has no feelings for others. Why should he have? It's his life and he's only got one. I really like this guy. However, all that money doesn't necessarily bring you happiness. Watch the film and find out his fate.

An Edifice Complex

[bkoganbing · 8/10 · 4 October 2010]

Although Skyscraper Souls develops several good characters, the primary focus is on Warren William the ruthless William Randolph Hearst like tycoon who is obsessed with not only building, but totally owning the world's tallest skyscraper. To emphasize the point of how big this building is, the New York City background shows the newly constructed Empire State Building quite a few feet shorter than Warren William's edifice.

All the other characters in the film revolve around William like so many planets to his sun. Beginning with of course his long suffering wife Hedda Hopper and this may very well have been her best acting part, before she became one of the reigning gossip columnists of movie land. Hedda's not even trying to hold on to him other than financially, Warren just writes her check as she needs in and she keeps her free spending ways. The Marion Davies of the story is Verree Teasdale, William's eternal secretary/mistress who knows where all the bodies are buried in his business. A young woman working as a stenographer in his bank, Maureen O'Sullivan has captured William's attention, but Teasdale watches her like a mother hen and Teasdale's the jealous type. Young bank teller Norman Foster is courting Maureen, but he hasn't a prayer with William intruding on the picture.

These are the personal associates, but the business ones are also revolve around William as he is determined to break any one who wants to gain control of his building. Chief among his rivals is George Barbier who is quite the rich womanizer himself, but is hardly in William's class for brains.

Coming out in 1932 I'm not sure how the movie-going public took to this story about the rich playing with stocks, so many lost their own nest eggs to just such speculation. William is the kind of tycoon people loved to hate that year.

The climax of Skyscraper Souls comes at a big price for William. He gets his edifice, but loses everything else. Let's just say it's quite the melodramatic ending, but still effective. Although the film is firmly dated in the Great Depression, Skyscraper Souls will still grab you by the emotions and by the wallet.

Who shot JR?

[1930s_Time_Machine · 8/10 · 5 May 2022]

If Dallas had been made in 1932 it would have been Skyscraper Souls. Whereas Dallas had JR Ewing as its loveable anti-hero, here we have David Dwight, played surprisingly well by Warren William. Dwight is a terrible human being: cruel, selfish, deceitful and the epitome of everything that caused the Great Depression. It would be so easy - especially as this was made in 1932, for him to play (like he usually did) the stereotypical capitalist villain but he doesn't. That is what makes this film clever and interesting. This heartless millionaire who callously ruins countless peoples' lives without a second thought is actually the person we're routing for - like JR in Dallas, we want him to succeed. Maybe it's because for once Warren William gives us a complex, sympathetic, fully developed character. Maybe it's because this is made by WR Hearst's Cosmopolitan Pictures - WR Hearst is hardly going to want to show multi-millionaires in a bad light? Maybe it's just well written?

The rest of the cast are also all real people - no lazy, one-dimensional stereotypes here, they're all people we can empathise with, even if we don't particularly like them.

In the same way that Dwight isn't the simple pantomime villain, Maureen O'Sullivan's character is not just sweet innocence. She is definitely sweet innocence but there's so much more to her, driving her, making her who she is. Again, her character has been forged in the Depression and that's no time to be just sweet and innocent. Maureen O'Sullivan is just 21 years old, only been acting a couple of years but is brilliant in this - she's a fabulous actress (why wasn't she the huge mega star of the 30s rather than Jean Harlow is beyond me!) Even her ostensibly happy ending isn't really a fairytale ending it looks like - it's a necessity, a compromise, it's making the best of a bad deal.

What's great about this movie - considering that talking pictures had only been around a few years, is that it does what a novel does; it allows your own mind to develop the characters and to think about what motivates them. It's very watchable.

don't like Tom

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 8 August 2022]

The Seacoast National Bank Building a fictional skyscraper in Manhattan. The owner David Dwight is in trouble both personally and professionally. Slick bank teller Tom Sheppard uses every trick in the book to get Lynn Harding (Maureen O'Sullivan). She's the secretary to David's mistress Sarah Dennis.

I don't care about most of these characters. I really don't like Sheppard. I'm sure that he's some gals' taste and was probably funny back in the day. He's just so handsy and full of schemes. Even Lynn knows that he has a high opinion of himself. It's a different time in courting. Maureen O'Sullivan is adorably cute. The fact that she willingly accepts Tom for who he is does help. More than anything, I don't care about David Dwight. He's only slightly better than his greedy business cohorts. In a way, it's a realistic look at business elites. There are no heroes in the boardroom. In another movie, Tom would be the hero and he would save the day somehow.

One of Maureen O'Sullivan's best films

[clyons · 12 June 2003]

Back in the early 30's, Maureen O'Sullivan was the quintessential "good girl who wants to be bad", which is to say, she seemed prim and proper on the surface, but a powerfully sexy woman lay right underneath that surface, who would only come out for the right guy--or sometimes the wrong guy.

Though she is not exactly the star of this movie, she did get second billing after Warren William, in spite of being so new to the motion picture biz. This was probably in response to her having appeared as Jane in the first Weissmuller Tarzan film, not long before. That remains her best role--she is essentially the protagonist in the first two Tarzan movies--she's the one who is changing, casting aside the sexual mores of her society, and joining Tarzan in his idyllic state of noble savagery.

In the urban jungle of "Skyscraper Souls", she plays a less idyllic character, wanting to enjoy both sexual passion and social respectability, along with a decent income. Nobody can offer her everything she wants, so she's left with two imperfect choices--the poor young clerk she likes, who will offer marriage. And the sexy ruthless tycoon she REALLY likes, who will take her as his "ward" (that is to say, his mistress) and possibly cast her aside in a decade or so, assuming he isn't too old to care by that point. Of course, she'd be set for life, even if that happened. But by the point in the film where she gives into him, she almost seems past caring about that. She's tried to follow the rules, and society has only penalized her for it. The man who supposedly loves her doesn't trust her, and she's feeling powerfully drawn to David Dwight, who understands her perfectly, and doesn't stand in judgment of anybody--least of all himself. He's a bastard, who destroys people to get what he wants--but he doesn't pretend to be anything else. He doesn't care about respectability or morality. Very few rich men truly do, but most like to at least pretend.

This pre-code film has it both ways, regarding the denouement of this particular sub-plot--you can, if you wish, believe that Lynn is saved from the proverbial Fate Worse Than Death, by the not entirely selfless intervention of her friend, Dwight's former mistress. But in truth, a number of days have passed since Lynn gave in to Dwight's advances, she seems awfully comfortable in his embrace, she's wearing clothes he bought for her, and is obviously living in his penthouse. Dwight is not the kind of man who is going to wait until he gets her on the yacht to have his pleasure. He's already gotten what he--and she--wanted. Even in the pre-code era, this is a bit too subversive, which is why the movie deftly clouds the issue of whether they've had sex or not. But there can be no doubt of her eagerness--by this point, she wouldn't leave Dwight for the bank clerk, even if the clerk could offer her everything she asked for.

With Dwight gone, she'll marry her bank clerk, and raise a family, and perhaps count herself lucky to have gotten to experience a bit of the high life before settling down. But one wonders if the bank clerk will end up wondering why their first kid doesn't look like him. I'm reading a great deal into this, of course. I really hated the bank clerk, btw.

;-)

Powerhouse Performance for Warren William

[cdale-41392 · 10/10 · 5 April 2019]

If there were ratings back in the 1930s, this would have been rated R. If you cut out everything in this film that the Hayes Code did not allow, it would probably be about 30 minutes long. Seriously.

There's blatant references to prostitution, lots of ass-slapping, older men getting an underage girl drunk in order to take advantage of her, very aggressive men forcing kisses on said underage girl almost to the point of attempted rape, open acknowledgement that the object of their "affection" is indeed underage, a creepy intergenerational kiss between a young man and a much older woman, blatantly acknowledged adultery, white collar criminality that goes unpunished, a horrible death from asphyxiation in a bank vault, scantily clad women, murder and suicide. Some of these scenes are genuinely uncomfortable to watch.

All of this happens as a variety of tales unfold and intertwine in The Dwight Building; the 100-story edifice owned by David Dwight (Warren William). Well, it doesn't start off with him owning the building because he's $30 Million in debt, but that's taken care of with a bit of stock market manipulation that benefits him and destroys everyone else.

This film is a powerhouse vehicle for Warren William. He is an awful human being. He's a greedy, manipulative, pathological liar and misogynist that preys on the innocent ... much like the orange-tinted current occupant of the White House. The only difference is that Dwight is charming and witty and smarter than those around him. It's really odd to have such a nasty character be so likable.

The other stories involve a very aggressive young banker that stalks / assaults the young and innocent secretary to Mr. Dwight's personal secretary / girlfriend, an office drone in love with a whore who refuses his advances until she's broke and desperately needs money, the corruption of a young innocent into a world of wealth and booze and sex, and rich men plotting stock market manipulation that leave ordinary people destitute (and they don't care as long as they benefit.)

While Warren William in indisputably the star of this film, Maureen O'Sullivan puts in a strong performance as Lynn Harding - the young innocent who is aggressively pursued by everyone. I also enjoyed Anita Page as the whore Jenny LeGrande. And Hedda Hopper makes an appearance as the wife of David Dwight who drops by every so often to pick up $100,000 here and $100,000 there.

The story is fascinating, the performances are strong, and the subject matter really pushes the boundaries of what you may expect to see in an early black and white film.

HIGHly recommended!