tracylord:

“By 1932, at MGM, she was getting good supporting roles, but she still wasn´t clicking. That year, Irving Thalberg called her into his office. “There´s something holding you back,” he told her. “There seems to be a veil between you and the audience. You´ve got to cut through. You must reach out there and grab them.” She did - in May 1934 - with two hits released in the same month. In Manhattan Melodrama (released May 4), she played a gangster`s mistress who becomes the wife of a politician (William Powell). Three weeks later came The Thin Man (May 25). In both, audiences got to see past the snooty and elegant Loy veneer to a woman who was also witty, warm and spirited.”

Mick LaSalle - Complicated Women