Society Lawyer (1939)

This comedy-drama with screwball roots never gets up to speed with it's improbable murder scenario and lifeless performances from the leads Walter Pidgeon and Virginia Bruce. The film's look has the outstanding MGM gloss and a strong supporting cast (notably Leo Carillo and Eduardo Cianelli) but Pidgeon plays it with a bored arrogance while Bruce, more caught up in herself displays a less than sympathetic self assured narcissism.

High priced lawyer Christopher Durant (Pidgeon) has a penchant for nostalgia de la boule. Defending and springing eccentric mobster Tony Gazoti he gains a key ally when he incurs the wrath of another mobster as he attempts to clear a friend for murder. In order to do so he puts his squeeze Pat (Bruce) in harm's way.

Both Pidgeon and Bruce come across abrasive and lack the energy a more dynamic pairing like Joel McCrea and Carole Lombard might bring to the picture but second tier director Edwin Marin's direction is just that. Dull Society Lawyer deserves its disbarment.