Penthouse

Gertie Waxted knows how notorious gangster Jim Crelliman runs his rackets, because she's long been under the hoodlum's thumb. She's secretly helping lawyer Jackson Durant in a snoop job aimed at pinning a murder on the thug. Her life will be in peril when that secret gets out.

Directed by W.S. Van Dyke, Penthouse leans on a strong ensemble — Warner Baxter, Myrna Loy, Charles Butterworth — to carry a story that balances spectacle with character.

The film landed with audiences for its craft and performances, and remains one of the most talked-about crime titles of 1933.