HIGH PRESSURE (1932)

Mike is searching for his buddy, promoter Gar Evans, by calling every bar, club and whorehouse in the area. Francine, his mistress, says he left days ago to buy cigarettes and never returned—though she's used to these shenanigans from him. Eventually, Gar turns up, unshaven and passed out in the back room of a bar. As Mike gets him sober, shaven and steady on his feet, he tells Gar that a man named Ginsberg knows an inventor who has come up with a formula for making rubber out of sewage, and he wants Gar to come up with a money-making plan. Right away, Gar is up and running: he comes up with a name (The Golden Gate Artificial Rubber Company); hires Clifford, a homeless friend, to pose as the president; rents an entire floor in an office building and talks the landlord into renaming the building after the company;  hires a bunch of salesman, and makes them attend a seminar on selling (given, of course, by him); and even gets Francine to help out. The company gets investors right away, but a major problem arises when Ginsberg can't find the inventor. When he does, it turns out the inventor is a crackpot. What's a shyster promoter to do to save his ass? This is a fast-paced pre-Code comedy with a good cast and fun plot. William Powell brings his usual delightful light touch to the role of Gar, who we really shouldn't be rooting for, but we do. George Sidney (not to be confused with the George Sidney who directed Bye Bye Birdie) exaggerates the Jewish humor a bit with the character of Ginsberg—a type of characterization that ended with the whitewash of the Production Code in 1934—but he's fun, as are Frank McHugh as Mike and the always reliable Guy Kibbee as the mostly befuddled Clifford. Evalyn Knapp and Ben Alexander are fine as a secondary romantic couple. The only real weak link is Evelyn Brent as the mistress, who plays the part in a cranky monotone. Harry Beresford, as the inventor, gets a very funny moment near the end, and it's a nice touch to have him with a "inventor's degree" that he got years ago from a bogus diploma mill run by Gar. Pictured are Powell and Brent. [TCM]