IMDb > Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
Manhattan Melodrama
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Manhattan Melodrama (1934) More at IMDbPro »


Overview

User Rating:
7.0/10   976 votes
MOVIEmeter: ?
Up 12% in popularity this week. See why on IMDbPro.
Director:
W.S. Van Dyke
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Writers:
Arthur Caesar (story)
Oliver H.P. Garrett (screenplay) ...
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Contact:
View company contact information for Manhattan Melodrama on IMDbPro.
Release Date:
4 May 1934 (USA) more
Genre:
Crime | Drama | Romance more
Plot:
The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman. full summary | add synopsis
Awards:
Won Oscar. more
NewsDesk:
(5 articles)
DVD Review: Public Enemies
 (From HeyUGuys. 1 November 2009, 4:41 PM, PST)

What "Inglourious Basterds" Owes to History
 (From IFC. 9 September 2009, 12:00 PM, PDT)

User Comments:
Cutting no corners more (21 total)

Cast

  (Cast overview, first billed only)

Clark Gable ... Edward J. 'Blackie' Gallagher

William Powell ... James W. 'Jim' Wade

Myrna Loy ... Eleanor Packer
Leo Carrillo ... Father Joe
Nat Pendleton ... Spud 'Spuddie'
George Sidney ... Poppa Rosen
Isabel Jewell ... Annabelle
Muriel Evans ... Tootsie Malone
Thomas E. Jackson ... Asst. Dist. Atty. Richard Snow (as Thomas Jackson)
Isabelle Keith ... Miss Adams (Jim's secretary) (as Claudelle Kaye)
Frank Conroy ... Blackie's defense attorney
Noel Madison ... Manny Arnold
Jimmy Butler ... Jim Wade as a boy

Mickey Rooney ... Blackie as a boy
Shirley Ross ... Singer in Cotton Club
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Additional Details

Runtime:
93 min | USA:90 min (Turner library print)
Country:
USA
Language:
English
Aspect Ratio:
1.37 : 1 more
Sound Mix:
Mono (Western Electric Sound System)
Certification:
Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #3213-R, 16 March 1937 for re-release)

Fun Stuff

Trivia:
The movie and scenes form this movie is featured in the production of Public Enemies (2009) by director Michael Mann. more
Goofs:
Errors made by characters (possibly deliberate errors by the filmmakers): In the close up of the newspaper announcing Jim as the new D.A., in the upper right corner, the newspaper is being sold for "Five Cens". more
Quotes:
James W. 'Jim' Wade: I was born at home, because I wanted to be near Mother at the time. more
Movie Connections:
Referenced in Public Enemies (2009) more
Soundtrack:
Sidewalks of New York more

FAQ

This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.
16 out of 18 people found the following comment useful.
Cutting no corners, 13 July 2004
7/10
Author: Michael Bo (michael.bo@pol.dk) from Copenhagen, Denmark

'Manhattan Melodrama' may not have the stylistic finish to it to make it a great message movie about contemporary 30s issues, but it does go a long way towards that end, and is never less than engaging.

Clark Gable is the happy-go-lucky gangster Blackie who is being tried for murder by his boyhood best friend Jim, William Powell, a D.A. who has made it to governor of New York because of a murder done by Blackie, unbeknownst to Jim. On top of it all they both love the same woman, Myrna Loy.

Despite its melodramatic but never overwrought style 'Manhattan Melodrama' has sufficient weight and substance to make itself heard 70 years after the fact. It cuts no convenient corners in the description of the governor's sad plight of having to decide whether his friend should live or die, and it paints a wonderful and believable picture of Loy's character who does what she deems best. Powell delivers a multi-layered performance that has to count amongst his best, and Gable is irrepressible and delightfully amoral as the bad guy we're all rooting for.

Recommended, but please don't judge it by the first 20 minutes which are rather slow-moving, but still entertaining.

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