Her career would have flamed out fast if MGM production head Irving Thalberg hadn't believed in her. He told Loy, "There seems to be a veil between you an the audience. You've got to cut through. You must reach out there and grab them." Loy wanted to make this breakthrough, but even though she was starting to win a handful of occidental roles, she was still playing vamps, such as her flirtatious wife in The Animal Kingdom (1932).
She finally touched her audience with a charming performance in Penthouse (1933). In that role, she impressed sufficiently enough to win the lead opposite William Powell in The Thin Man the next year. The pair clicked, and suddenly Loy was a beloved star; the vamp character was forever in her past.
Loy would ultimately headline thirteen films with Powell, including six installments of the popular Thin Man series. She would also play successfully opposite frequent co-stars Clark Gable and Cary Grant. Throughout the thirties and forties she was known as the "perfect wife"; both women and men admired her.
Here are two performances from her stunning career: one from the vamp period, the other from the Thin Man period.
The Mask of Fu Manchu (1932)
Directed By: Charles Brabin
Also Starring: Boris Karloff, Karen Morley, Lewis Stone
Loy was horrified when she received the script for this trashy comic book adventure flick. She plays the daughter of Fu Manchu (Karloff), her last "exotic" role. The character's taste for inflicting torture lead her to comment, "I've done a lot of terrible things in films, but this girl's a sadistic nymphomaniac." That said, she was forced to admire her performance in later years when friend Roddy McDowell tricked her into watching a screening. In the midst all the shudderingly racist comments and torture scenes, Loy and Karloff tear into their roles with delicious comic zest. The movie is like a textbook for camp. She was understandably weary of playing these roles, but that did not mean she was sleeping on the job.
Libeled Lady (1936)
Directed by: Jack Conway
Also Starring: William Powell, Jean Harlow, Spencer Tracy, Walter Connolly
In this not quite screwball comedy, Loy is a playful heiress whose father threatens to sue a newspaper that slanders her. Powell is hired on by newsman Tracy to marry his fiancée (Harlow) and romance Loy into an alienation of affections suit. Powell falls in love with his target, and she lets down her guard when she senses that his intentions are honorable. Their scenes alone together are warm with easy affection and chemistry. This is one of the most intriguing Powell and Loy films.
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