An early William Powell quickie from 1932. Powell is a lawyer trying to make ends meet working alongside his acid tongued assistant, played by Joan Blondell. When a high end law firm makes an offer to him to become partner, he jumps at the chance & soon starts bringing in the money w/his gift for gab & his penchant for winning cases. Trouble then comes in the form of an actress who claims she was abandoned causing her prenup to be in jeopardy (she provides Powell w/love letters to buttress her case) but when he's sued for filing a fraudulent case, after the actress, via a phone call, pleaded for him to drop the suit (the letters going missing doesn't help either). Luckily Powell gets a hung jury & as he builds himself back up, he gets a berth as an ADA but when he brings charges against the ones w/framed him, a judgeship is dangled for him to drop the suit. What will he do? As w/another of Powell's 1930's output, the film suffers from a surfeit of plot stuffed into a 70 minute sausage which commands the viewer's undivided attention but since everything is quickly brought up & carted away, the whiplash of the narrative soon starts to wear one down. Look for Sterling Holloway, the future voice of Winnie the Pooh, as a drunk at a bar.
Review of Lawyer Man
