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Manhattan Melodrama (1934)
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Overview
User Rating:
Director:
Writers:
Release Date:
4 May 1934 (USA)
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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.
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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)
(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:
A fascinatingly unusual drama
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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 |
Additional Details
Parents Guide:
Runtime:
93 min | USA:90 min (Turner library print)
Country:
Language:
Color:
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)
Company:
Fun Stuff
Trivia:
Lorenz Hart was asked to write more commercially appealing lyrics to "The Bad in Every Man" after this movie was released. The result was "Blue Moon," which was copyrighted under that title in December 1934.
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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.
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Quotes:
James W. 'Jim' Wade:
I'm going to clean out every rotten spot I can find in this city, and, Blackie, I don't want to find you in any of them!
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Movie Connections:
Referenced in Public Enemies (2009)
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Soundtrack:
Sidewalks of New York
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FAQ
This FAQ is empty. Add the first question.more (22 total)
Message Boards
Discuss this movie with other users on IMDb message board for Manhattan Melodrama (1934)| Recent Posts (updated daily) | User |
|---|---|
| John Dillinger's last moments | Charlie_Kane |
| Mickey Rooney? | catlady1412 |
| blackie on the phone | alpinebixby |
| Oh, Pancho | dgave |
| fashion | alpinebixby |
Recommendations
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| News articles | IMDb Crime section | IMDb USA section |
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Well, unusual for me. Perhaps at the time, the circumstances, what have you, it was not so unusual. But for me, watching Clark Gable portray a happy-go-lucky double murderer, who garners tons of sympathy from the audience; it was a first.
Manhattan Melodrama is a film of dubious and rather interesting morals. Who's the hero? Who's the villain? Childhood friends Jim and Blackie grow up very different men, Jim becomes DA of New York City, while Blackie runs a casino, and performs other unsavory activities. Eventually, their positions force them into conflict, but it's not your typical run-of-the-mill courtroom drama.
Blackie in most films would be a villain, he is after all a gangster and a murderer, amongst other activities. But here he's played by Clark Gable, about as charming an actor as ever lived, and the movie takes place in the 1930s, when gangster pictures like Little Caesar elevated these types of men into hero roles.
The picture makes a very blatant message against the heroic vision of gangsters (In a speech by Jim that feels as if the men who controlled the Production Code were standing off screen holding the cue cards for him). But I couldn't help feeling sympathy for the character, after the evil deeds he did. Meanwhile Jim, a hardworking individual who is uncorruptable, comes off as "cold" by the end of the picture. The way this movie sidesteps conventional roles is really interesting.
The lead woman in the picture, Eleanor, is rather interesting too. Watch how she jumps back and forth and between the men, and for what reasons.
I don't fully understand this movie, and it's not one of the most exciting films I've ever seen, but it's one of the most interesting ones I've seen in quite a while.