Manhattan Melodrama (1934)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

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:

The movie and scenes form this movie is featured in the production of Public Enemies (2009) by director Michael Mann.

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".

Quotes:

James W. 'Jim' Wade: I was born at home, because I wanted to be near Mother at the time.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Public Enemies (2009)

Soundtrack:

Sidewalks of New York

Two toughs from the Lower East Side - Gable's a Gangster, Powell's the Governor, and Loy loves them both!

"Melodrama" is right.

Inside the first eight minutes we've got a ship disaster, a communist riot, and a pre-teen Mickey Rooney loses two sets of parents!

This isn't one to watch for the tight plotting or realism. Watch this for the spectacular cast. Powell is dapper and urbane. Gable is dangerous and charming. Loy knock's em dead. Mickey Rooney is a riot as the young Gable.

By the way - This is the movie John Dillinger was walking out of when he was gunned down by the police.

Also of note : You'll immediately say "Oh - it's that guy," when Nat Pendelton shows up as Spud. He played either a cop or crook in half the gangster pictures ever made.