High Pressure (1932) in Color — Starring William Powell & Evelyn Brent

High Pressure (1932) — Buy This Classic in Color

Discover High Pressure, the 1932 American pre-Code comedy film directed by Mervyn LeRoy and starring William Powell and Evelyn Brent, now available as a professionally colorized version. It is based on the play Hot Money by Aben Kandel. The film is preserved at the Library of Congress and in the Warner Archive Collection. Gar Evans agrees to promote Ginsburg’s product, artificial rubber created from sewage, only after his friend Mike Donahey assures him it is not a scam. Gar is superstitious; he believes he will only succeed if his long-suffering girlfriend Francine Dale joins them on the venture. She, however, has given up on him, especially since he left her five days before to pick up something, and never came back. It is only with great effort that he convinces her to give him another chance. Gar quickly incorporates the “Golden Gate Artificial Rubber Company”, rents a whole floor of a building, installs old crony Clifford Gray as president, gives Helen Wilson a job as a secretary, and hires a lot of high-pressure salesmen to sell shares. As news spreads, natural rubber company stock prices start to fall, and Mr. Banks offers to buy the company on behalf of the established rubber firms, but the bid is too low for Gar. This fast-paced pre-Code comedy combines Wall Street satire with romantic comedy as a smooth-talking promoter creates a stock frenzy around an improbable invention. Own this classic movie in color as a DRM-free MP4 digital download for just €15.00.

Plot Summary

Gar Evans agrees to promote Ginsburg’s product, artificial rubber created from sewage, only after his friend Mike Donahey assures him it is not a scam. Gar is superstitious; he believes he will only succeed if his long-suffering girlfriend Francine Dale joins them on the venture. She, however, has given up on him, especially since he left her five days before to pick up something, and never came back. It is only with great effort that he convinces her to give him another chance.

Gar quickly incorporates the “Golden Gate Artificial Rubber Company”, rents a whole floor of a building, installs old crony Clifford Gray as president, gives Helen Wilson a job as a secretary, and hires a lot of high-pressure salesmen to sell shares. As news spreads, natural rubber company stock prices start to fall, and Mr. Banks offers to buy the company on behalf of the established rubber firms, but the bid is too low for Gar. Banks then threatens to get an injunction preventing sales of Gar’s shares pending an investigation. Gar welcomes it. However, Ginsburg (promoted to “Colonel” by Gar), has misplaced the inventor of the process, Dr. Rudolph Pfeiffer. When he is finally located and set to work making a sample, Gar invites scientists to inspect the finished product, only to discover that Pfeiffer is a deranged crackpot (his next invention involves hens laying pre-decorated Easter eggs). Francine quits in disgust and prepares to sail to South America and marry Señor Rodriguez. Despite his lawyer’s advice to flee to another state, Gar insists on taking full responsibility.

Just as all seems lost, Banks offers to reimburse all the shareholders and pay Gar enough to make a $100,000 profit just to be rid of the whole mess (and restore natural rubber stock prices). Gar rushes to the dock to retrieve the Golden Gate controlling shares, which he had signed over to Francine. While there, he wins her back by promising to give up promoting, only to have Donahey show up with a scheme for Alaskan gold/marble/spruce wood. Within seconds, Gar is plotting his next campaign.

Gar Evans is the archetypal American promoter, a fast-talking optimist who lives for the next big deal and trusts his own charm more than the facts. His willingness to promote artificial rubber made from sewage demonstrates both his ambition and his gullibility, but it also reveals the essential American belief that any idea, no matter how absurd, can be sold to the public if presented with enough confidence. His superstition about needing Francine by his side adds a humanizing vulnerability to his otherwise relentless huckster persona.

The artificial rubber scheme perfectly captures the spirit of pre-Code American cinema, where businessmen could be con artists, the public could be suckers, and the financial system could be exposed as theater. The Golden Gate Artificial Rubber Company exists only in rented office space and in the promises of high-pressure salesmen, yet it is powerful enough to affect the stock prices of established natural rubber companies. This satire of stock market mania remains relevant to any era of speculative bubbles and investment frenzies.

Francine Dale represents the voice of common sense and emotional honesty in Gar’s chaotic world. She has endured his broken promises and sudden disappearances, and she is ready to move on to a stable life with Señor Rodriguez in South America. Her disgust with the artificial rubber scheme and her decision to leave are entirely justified, yet her love for Gar keeps pulling her back into his orbit. The film’s romantic comedy depends on the audience believing that Francine is both too good for Gar and unable to resist him.

The supporting characters populate the comic landscape of Gar’s enterprise. Clifford Gray, the old crony installed as president, represents the respectable facade behind which Gar operates. Helen Wilson, the secretary, provides another point of view on the masculine world of promotion and stock sales. Dr. Rudolph Pfeiffer, the deranged inventor whose next idea involves pre-decorated Easter eggs, is a brilliant comic creation that exposes the thin line between genius and madness in American invention mythology. The high-pressure salesmen in the boiler room embody the aggressive energy of American capitalism in the early twentieth century.

The film’s ending is a perfect pre-Code joke. Just when Gar has supposedly learned his lesson and promised to reform for Francine, another opportunity arrives in the form of Alaskan gold, marble, and spruce wood. Within seconds he is planning his next campaign, proving that the promoter cannot change his nature. This cynical yet cheerful conclusion suggests that the American economy runs on perpetual optimism and the eternal hope that the next deal will be the big one.

Cast & Crew

Director: Mervyn LeRoy

Stars: William Powell, Evelyn Brent, George Sidney, Frank McHugh, Guy Kibbee

Why Buy This Classic in Color?

High Pressure was originally filmed in black and white, with cinematography that captured the bustling offices of the Golden Gate Artificial Rubber Company and the pre-Code world of fast-talking promoters. This professionally colorized restoration enhances every scene with frame-by-frame precision, from the Art Deco office interiors to the period clothing of the 1932 salesmen, secretaries, and businessmen. The colorized version reveals new visual richness in the film’s settings, where the early 1930s fashion, the stock ticker machines, the telephones, and the period automobiles gain authenticity that transports viewers to the world of pre-Code American comedy. William Powell’s performance as Gar Evans gains additional dimension in color, his sophisticated charm and rapid-fire delivery making the smooth-talking promoter even more vivid. Evelyn Brent’s Francine benefits from colorization that highlights her character’s weary elegance and the romantic pull she feels toward Gar. The comic ensemble, including George Sidney as Ginsburg, Frank McHugh as Mike Donahey, and Guy Kibbee as Clifford Gray, becomes more distinctive in color, each actor’s comic timing enhanced by the visual clarity of the restoration. Now also available in colour.

Buy High Pressure in color today for just €15.00. Your DRM-free MP4 download is available for instant access.

Historical Significance

Released in 1932, High Pressure is a prime example of the pre-Code Hollywood comedy that flourished in the years before the enforcement of the Production Code in 1934. The film’s portrayal of a promoter who creates a stock company based on artificial rubber made from sewage, and who hires high-pressure salesmen to sell shares to gullible investors, would have been difficult or impossible to make under the stricter moral guidelines that followed. The film’s cheerful cynicism about American business, its sympathetic portrayal of a con artist, and its frank depiction of romantic relationships reflect the creative freedom that defined the pre-Code era.

William Powell was one of the most versatile stars of the early 1930s, equally adept at sophisticated comedy, mystery, and romance. His performance in High Pressure showcases the comic timing and effortless charm that would soon make him famous as Nick Charles in The Thin Man series. Powell’s ability to make Gar Evans likable despite his dishonesty and irresponsibility is a masterclass in creating a rogue protagonist. Evelyn Brent, a prominent actress of the silent and early sound eras, provided a strong romantic counterpart, bringing both glamour and grounded intelligence to the role of Francine.

Director Mervyn LeRoy was one of Warner Bros.’ most reliable filmmakers in the early 1930s, known for his ability to move between social dramas, gangster films, and comedies with equal skill. His direction of High Pressure demonstrates the fast-paced, hard-edged style that Warner Bros. perfected during the Depression years. The film’s rapid dialogue, its crowded office scenes, and its satirical tone are all characteristic of the studio’s approach to topical, working-class entertainment.

The film was based on the play Hot Money by Aben Kandel, a writer who would continue to work in Hollywood for decades. The adaptation from stage to screen preserved the play’s focus on a single elaborate con while opening it up to include the stock market, the laboratory, and the docks. The screenplay’s structure, which builds from Gar’s initial reluctance to his full embrace of the scheme and finally to the comic reversal that saves him, demonstrates the craftsmanship of early Hollywood screenwriting.

The film’s preservation at the Library of Congress and in the Warner Archive Collection testifies to its historical and cultural importance. High Pressure represents a moment in American cinema when comedies could be sharp, cynical, and critical of capitalism without requiring moralistic endings. The film’s contemporary reviews were positive, with Mordaunt Hall in The New York Times praising it as “a brightly written and constantly amusing film” and noting that “William Powell is in his element.” Variety and The Film Daily also praised the cast, particularly Powell and George Sidney, and noted the authenticity of the boiler-room scenes.

The film’s satire of financial speculation and promotional schemes remains remarkably relevant. The idea that stock prices can be manipulated by confidence men, that investors can be swept up by the promise of impossible inventions, and that the financial establishment will pay off troublemakers to preserve the status quo, all resonate with later economic crises and scandals. Through modern colorization, this sharp pre-Code comedy reaches new audiences who can appreciate William Powell’s performance, Mervyn LeRoy’s direction, and the film’s place in the history of American screen comedy. Now also available in color.

Technical Details

• Format: MP4 / MKV digital download
• Resolution: HD 720p
• Colorized: Professionally colorized from original black and white
• Audio: English original mono
• Runtime: 73 minutes
• DRM-free: Yes — watch on any device
• Instant download: Available immediately after purchase
• Price: €15.00

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Movie-Specific Questions

Q: Who stars in High Pressure?
A: William Powell stars as Gar Evans, with Evelyn Brent as Francine Dale, George Sidney as Ginsburg, and Frank McHugh as Mike Donahey.

Q: Who directed High Pressure?
A: Mervyn LeRoy directed this 1932 pre-Code comedy for Warner Bros.

Q: What is the plot of High Pressure?
A: A smooth-talking promoter creates a stock company to sell shares in artificial rubber made from sewage, using high-pressure salesmen to whip up a market frenzy before the scheme collapses.

Digital Download Questions

Q: What format is the download?
A: The film is delivered as MP4 and MKV files that play on virtually any device.

Q: Is there DRM on the file?
A: No. The download is completely DRM-free so you can watch it on any device without restrictions.

Q: How quickly can I watch after purchase?
A: Your download link is available instantly after payment, so you can start watching within minutes.

Related Colorized Classics

• The Mouthpiece (1932)
• Lawyer Man (1932)
• Grand Hotel (1932)
• The Girl Who Had Everything (1953)
• The Senator Was Indiscreet (1947)