According to Michael Mann's Public Enemies (opening Wednesday), it was FBI agent Melvin Purvis (Christian Bale) who set the trap that caught notorious bankrobber John Dillinger (Johnny Depp). It was starlet Myrna Loy who was the bait. Dillinger had a crush on the sleepy-eyed lovely, whose movie Manhattan Melodrama (1934) tempted the robber out of hiding months before she became a star in The Thin Man films. There are those who would argue that Dillinger's cause of death was the love of Loy. Those interested in the 1930s milieu of Purvis and Dillinger could do worse than take a look at this snappy film about childhood buddies William Powell and Clark Gable who pursue the same dame (Loy, natch) but different careers.
In the ripping story that established the "opposite sides of the law" motif, Powell plays the district attorney who prosecutes the lawless Gable. Directed by W.S. Van Dyke, who would reunite Loy and Powell for The Thin Man series, the film boasts atmospheric cinematography by the peerless James Wong Howe and is a glorious setting for the sparkling jewel that was Loy. Buoyed by this movie and her notoriety as the Venus flytrap who caught Dillinger, Loy deservedly soared to stardom.
I love Loy in just about everything, from the slinky siren in The Mask of Fu Manchu, to "perfect wife" Nora Charles in The Thin Man films to Cary Grant's teasing spouse in Mr. Blandings Builds His Dream House. But my favorite role of hers is as the cheerful nymphomaniac, second fiddle to Jeanette McDonald in Love Me Tonight (1932). "Could you go for a doctor?" McDonald asks. "And how!" replies Loy with the enthusiastic sexuality that may have appealed to Dillinger. Your favorite Myrna?
LIBELED LADY. Hilarious screwball comedy, and one that reunites her with William Powell from THE THIN MAN. I think this one is underrated.— garyk- I don't know if it's my favorite Myrna Loy role, but I was impressed with her work in "The Best Days of Our Lives": It's a wonderful scene when she realizes that her husband Frederick March is home from the war.— jonc
- "Best Years of Our Lives," absolutely. Beautifully choreographed scene in the hallway of an apartment building. Loy is in the kitchen (audible but not seen) as her husband comes through the front door. Her chatty kids are suddenly quiet and Loy knows something is up. Worldlessly she enters the hallway and sees Fredric March and runs toward him for a silent embrace. I cry just remembering it. And yes, Libelled Lady, funny as hell and underknown screwball comedy with Powell, Spencer Tracy and Jean Harlow (Powell's real-life fiancee). Priceless.— carrierickey
- THE BEST YEARS OF OUR LIVES. Myrna play's a tolerant and loving wife who accepts her husband’s flaws when he is in crisis. An iconic character but the performance is subtle and true.— okidoke
- Loy was always appealing when she was showing patience for the follies of the male of the species. It's easy to see how women in the audience could identify with her, while men could appreciate her. She also had the perfect look for the age of Art Deco. In addition to those already mentioned, I like her as a quasi-Amelia Earhart aviatrix (when will I ever get another chance to use that anachronistic title?) in "Too Hot to Handle," and her supporting role as Adolphe Menjou's wife in "The Ambassador's Daughter."— wwolfe
- Is it possible to think of her as the mom in Cheaper By the Dozen? That's kinda where I fell for her, my first career woman crush playing, Lillian Gilbreth. I also liked her in the Bachelor and the Bobby Soxer. She looked pretty good for a mother of twelve.— BigDipper
- Myrna Loy is just great. One of my favorites. Mr. Blandings ranks right up there, but my ultimate fave is the first Thin Man!— curtandsheila
- Big Dipper: I love her in the "Cheaper By the Dozen" films, esp the scene where she's invited to speak to The Princeton Club in NY about prinicples of scientific management and they don't want to let her in because she's a woman. She squares her shoulders, flares her nostrils and then walks right in with a kind of no-nonsense nobility.— carrierickey
- My favorite Loy role? The most recent one I happen to have seen!— scooterberwyn
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