Manhattan Melodrama (1934)

Director:

W.S. Van Dyke

Writers:

Arthur Caesar (story)
Oliver H.P. Garrett (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

4 May 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Romance

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.

Plot Keywords:

Murder | Governor | Orphan | Electric Chair | Mistress

Awards:

Won Oscar.

Cast

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

Runtime:

93 min | USA:90 min (Turner library print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Australia:G | USA:Approved (PCA #3213-R, 16 March 1937 for re-release)

Company:

Cosmopolitan Productions

Trivia:

After John Dillinger was killed, William Randolph Hearst had the statement "A Cosmopolitan Production" removed from the credits of all prints. The print in the Turner library does not contain that credit.

Goofs:

Continuity: When Blackie picks up a magazine from the couch after Eleanor leaves him, it is a close up of a Ladies Home Journal from a leopard skin upholstered couch. In the wide shot, he is holding a Vogue and the couch is plainly upholstered, not leopard skin.

Quotes:

James W. 'Jim' Wade: You know, I think those yes-men would go to bed with me if they had a chance.
Eleanor Packer: Don't worry, Darling, they won't have a chance.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (1977)

Soundtrack:

The Bad in Every Man (Blue Moon)

Quite a movie

They didn't name this "Manhatten *Melodrama* for nothing - it's classic melodrama! If you can get past the first fifteen minutes or so, what saves this film is the three leads: William Powell, Clark Gable, and Myrna Loy. As a Myrna Loy/William Powell fan, I love the whole scene from their first meeting, as she flings herself into his taxi, and he thinks she is out to wreck his career by pretending he assaulted her! Clark Gable is great as the charming bad guy, too. Of course, in this story about unpunished crime vs. betraying a friend, nobody ever considers the third way, but then it wouldn't be a melodrama anymore, would it? Anyway, if you enjoy golden oldies or any of the three main actors, it's worth watching.