Grade: C-
Synopsis: The wife (Myrna Loy) of a lawyer (William Powell) commits a crime of passion unbeknownst to her husband, only to have him defend another woman accused of the crime.
Evelyn Prentice is notable as the screen debut of actress Rosalind Russell, but aside from that, it’s a far-fetched and mostly forgettable melodrama, despite the re-teaming of stars William Powell and Myrna Loy, who’d previously struck gold with The Thin Man.
The problem here is the script, which starts off well enough, but gets more and more ridiculous as the film goes on, culminating in a truly laughable courtroom sequence at the film’s finale. Powell and Loy do their best with the material, but get little help from the supporting cast. The aforementioned Russell, despite forth billing, is little more than a plot device and fails to register.
Thankfully, Evelyn Prentice runs a brief 79 minutes, so at least it isn’t drawn out, but at the same time, it lacks the dynamic pacing of Powell and Loy’s more memorable collaborations.
The kicker here is that the movie has the makings of something special. Powell and Loy work very well in their roles, and the script’s first act has a lot of potential. A darker and more realistic ending would have gone a long way toward making Evelyn Prentice a lot more memorable.
Bottom Line: Evelyn Prentice might be worth a look for die-hard Powell and Loy fans, but a ridiculous script means others should probably look elsewhere.
