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6.9/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.9/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Evelyn Prentice remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Should you watch Evelyn Prentice today? If you’re into crisp 1930s dialogue and want to see Myrna Loy carry a whole movie on her shoulders, then yeah, go for it. If you need explosions or a movie that moves like a modern thriller, you’re gonna be bored stiff. It’s for the folks who like their black-and-white dramas with a side of high-society anxiety.
William Powell plays the husband, a big-shot lawyer who is constantly "busy." I mean, he’s *very* busy. He’s so busy that he doesn't notice his wife is basically bored out of her mind. Honestly, the guy is a total snooze even when he’s trying to be charming. He has that look on his face like he’s trying to solve a crossword puzzle while eating dinner.
Enter the other guy. You know the type—the one with the slick hair and the bad intentions. It’s the kind of setup that feels like it could have gone in a dozen directions, but it chooses the one that lands poor Evelyn in a pile of trouble. The blackmail stuff hits pretty hard, mostly because the movie doesn't waste time getting there. It just drops you right into the drama.
There’s this one scene where a door opens, and the lighting is just… weird. It’s dramatic, sure, but it feels like the director was trying a little too hard to make a hallway look like a crime scene. It works, though. It’s slightly imperfect, which is exactly why I like it.
Myrna Loy is doing some heavy lifting here. She makes all these terrible choices seem perfectly reasonable, which is a talent I don't think she gets enough credit for. It reminded me a bit of the mood in No Other Woman, where you’re just waiting for the other shoe to drop. You know it’s coming, but you can’t look away.
The pacing is a bit uneven, honestly. Sometimes the dialogue snaps like a whip, and other times it just sort of hangs in the air while characters look intensely at each other. It’s not a perfect film, and it definitely isn't trying to be a deep "meditation" on anything. It’s just a story about a woman who makes a mistake and has to deal with the fallout.
Also, the hats. My god, the hats. I spent way too much time staring at the millinery instead of listening to the plot. There's a particular scene where the background extras look like they’re just waiting for lunch, which is a nice, grounding touch. It reminds you that this is just a movie, not some holy relic of the studio system.
If you're in the mood for something that isn't afraid to be a little messy, give it a shot. It's not the best thing I've seen all year, but it's got a rhythm that kept me awake. That’s more than I can say for most of the stuff on streaming services these days. 🍸
IMDb 6.6
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