After bank president David Dwight makes a vast loan to himself to build a remarkable skyscraper, his board questions the propriety of the loan. Despite the devotion of longtime mistress Sarah, the ruthless David, while seeking bank mergers to protect his building, tries to seduce Sarah's secretary, Lynn. David then agrees to a plot by a bank board member to inflate his bank's stock and sell short — just before the market crashes.
Acting
Warren William's smirking predator-in-pinstripes
Production
The skyscraper itself—Art Deco ambition made stone
Writing
Pre-code dialogue that dares to name the arrangement
Director
Edgar Selwyn
Warren William
David Dwight
Maureen O'Sullivan
Lynn Harding
Gregory Ratoff
Mr. Vinmont
Anita Page
Jenny LeGrande
Norman Foster
Tom Shepherd
Verree Teasdale
Sarah Dennis
George Barbier
Norton
Jean Hersholt
Jake
Wallace Ford
Slim
Hedda Hopper
Ella Dwight
John Marston
Bill
Oscar Apfel
Brewster's Associate (uncredited)
Edward Brophy
Man in Elevator (uncredited)
Billy Gilbert
Second Ticket Agent (uncredited)
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Shot during the actual Depression, this pre-code gem escaped Hays Code scissors by months—note the unmarried cohabitation and frank abortion references.
Warren William was so typecast as sleazy executives that critics called him 'the king of pre-code cads'; he reportedly hated it.
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