Tales of Manhattan (1942)

User Rating:

7.5/10   

Director:

Julien Duvivier

Writers:

Henry Blankfort (writer)
Alan Campbell (writer)

Release Date:

24 September 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

An Experience You'll never forget !

Plot:

An actor, Paul Orman, is accidentally told that his new, custom made tail coat has been cursed and it will bring misfortune to all who wear it...

Plot Keywords:

Coat | Actor | Audition | Whistling | Transformation

Cast

Charles Boyer	...	Paul Orman
Rita Hayworth	...	Ethel Halloway
Ginger Rogers	...	Diane
Henry Fonda	...	George
Charles Laughton	...	Charles Smith
Edward G. Robinson	...	Avery L. 'Larry' Browne
Paul Robeson	...	Luke
Ethel Waters	...	Esther
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson	...	Rev. Lazarus
Thomas Mitchell	...	John Halloway
Eugene Pallette	...	Luther - Orman's butler
Cesar Romero	...	Harry Wilson
Gail Patrick	...	Ellen - Diane's friend
Roland Young	...	Edgar - Wilson's butler
Marion Martin	...	'Squirrel'

Also Known As:

Stars Over Manhattan (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

118 min | 127 min (restored version)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Finland:S | Sweden:15 | USA:Unrated

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Trivia:

Amused by Charles Boyer's thick French accent, Rita Hayworth giggled her way through the filming of their love scenes together.

Quotes:

George: I know my own tailcoat!
Diane: Well, you didn't last night!

Movie Connections:

Featured in Jumpin' Jack Flash (1986)

Soundtrack:

Bacchanale Moderne

Stories of tails

For a brief period in cinema history, the anthology film was all the rage. Movies like "Flesh and Fantasy" and "O. Henry's Full House" used large casts to tell several interlocked stories. "Tales of Manhattan" is the best of the anthology films, following the adventures of a tuxedo's tailcoat as it passes through the hands of several diverse people in New York. There's Charles Boyer, the Broadway actor who is carrying on an illicit affair; there's Henry Fonda who is helping Cesar Romero get out of a sticky situation with his fiancee Ginger Rogers (along the way, Fonda and Rogers fall in love and have one of the best-written love scenes to ever hit the screen); there's Charles Laughton who seeks one shot at glory conducting an orchestra; and, in the most touching and rewarding of the tales, there's Edward G. Robinson, a down-and-out bum who has been invited to his college reunion. If you're looking for an all-star cast and a first-rate cinema experience, "Tales of Manhattan" is the one. I consistently put this movie at the top of my all-time favorites.