I came across this film both because I have been watching a lot of early talkie films and because many people swear it is better than Grand Hotel, a better known classic. While it is certainly well done for a film of this vintage (released July 1932), I did not think it quite matched the level of sophistication of either Grand Hotel or a later film from the same year, Ernst Lubitsch's Trouble in Paradise. And it certainly doesn't match up for star power. While it deals frankly with topics like marital infidelity, it also lacks the raciness of other pre-code films like Red Headed Woman or Three on a Match. That said, this is still a must see for fans of early cinema. Warren William, forgotten today but a major star of early talkie cinema, gives a fascinating performance as a scheming bank executive; he reminded me of a lot of people I've worked with in the past. His final scenes, in particular, give an enormously enlightening look into the perverse mindset which prevails amongst such people to this day. And 21 year old Maureen O'Sullivan (Tarzan series, The Thin Man) is a pure and refreshing delight in every one of her scenes. Anita Page, on the other hand, looks awkward and aged well beyond her 21 years (perhaps too much Hollywood living). Finally, unlike the other Forbidden Hollywood DVDs, Leonard Maltin did not grace this one with any introduction. As for all the films in this series, a DVD set is long overdue.

It's really quite unbelievable that this movie isn't better-known. For "Skyscraper Souls" is well-acted, well-directed, and though a lot of movies from the time (1932) seem archaic and stagey, this one seems very fresh and natural -- and what with its concern with the machinations of Machiavellian executive-types -- extremely pertinent to today. A great deal takes place in about an hour and a half, and yet it never seems to rush (or drag). It is, along with "Weekend at the Waldorf" and "Hannah and Her Sisters", to name just two, one of the great slice-of-life films about New York.

FYI: Here's what James Sanders says about this film in his great book "Celluloid Skyline":

"If some New York skyscrapers seemed to hold a symbolic world within themselves, others contained the makings of a real city. With working populations in the tens of thousands and activities that ranged from shops and offices to restaurants, broadcasting studios, athletic clubs, and private apartments, these great structures often carried the complexity of a good-sized community. Perhaps no film captured more fully the notion of the skyscraper as a city unto itself, nor more powerfully intertwined personal ambition and high-rise form, than Skyscraper Souls, a 1932 film that takes us into just such a city-within-the-city: the Dwight Building, the tallest in the world."

That's the best Warren William can offer when his secretary-lover Veree Teasdale has a confrontation with his open-marriage wife Hedda Hopper (yes, THAT Hedda Hopper) in the pre-Code flick about the ruthless bank president's obsession with his magnificent Art Deco skyscraper, which even outstrips the Empire State Building in height. Smooth taking William charms ladies of all kinds and he's not too bad either at schmoozing other bankers into first a merger and then a wild stockmarket ride which dashes the fortunes and futures of a whole cast of characters. "Skyscraper Souls" is a sort of "Hotel" or "Ship of Fools" where many love stories are all happening under one roof, in this case the gigantic Dwight Building. For instance, Wallace Ford is trying to talk his girlfriend into leaving her husband, Jean Hersholt is trying to woo Anita Page's dress model/good time gal into giving him a break, and another young bank teller is trying to get Maureen O'Sullivan interested in him, but she's determined to marry a rich man. Well, then it's pretty handy that Mr. Dwight aka Warren William has taken a fancy to her, since he's rolling in dough; there's a bit of a complication, though, since she's the secretary to HIS secretary and long-standing mistress. But Dwight is not the man to let any obstacle stand in his way for long, and it really looks like he's going to get the young gal and complete control of his building--but can anyone's luck hold out that long? Abounding with risque situations galore, "Skyscraper Souls" concludes with enough shocking "departures" to hold the interest of any viewer from our supposedly more "free thinking" generation. Take the elevator to the penthouse and enjoy the view!