Manhattan Melodrama (1934)

Director:

W.S. Van Dyke
(more)

Writers:

Oliver H.P. Garrett (screenplay) and
Joseph L. Mankiewicz (screenplay) ...
(more)

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:

Friendship | Governor | Orphan | Murder | Gambling

Awards:

Won Oscar.

Cast

Clark Gable	...	Edward J. 'Blackie' Gallagher
William Powell	...	Jim Wade
Myrna Loy	...	Eleanor Packer
Leo Carrillo	...	Father Joe
Nat Pendleton	...	Spud
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 (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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Oscar Apfel	...	Speaker of Assembly (uncredited)
William Arnold	...	Blackjack Dealer (uncredited)
William Augustin	...	Detective (uncredited)
William Bailey	...	Al Barnes - Croupier (uncredited)
Curtis Benton	...	Announcer (uncredited)
John Bleifer	...	Chauffeur (uncredited)
Stanley Blystone	...	Detective in Court (uncredited)
Wade Boteler	...	Prison Guard (uncredited)
Don Brodie	...	Reporter (uncredited)
G. Pat Collins	...	Killer in Prison (uncredited)
James Curtis	...	Party Leader (uncredited)
Vernon Dent	...	Otto (German dancer on steamship) (uncredited)
Charles Dunbar	...	Panhandler (uncredited)
James Eagles	...	Boy in Prison (uncredited)
Jay Eaton	...	Drunk (uncredited)
Harrison Greene	...	Eleanor's Dance Partner (uncredited)
Donald Haines	...	Spud as a Boy (uncredited)
Sherry Hall	...	Assistant District Attorney (uncredited)
Eddie Hart	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Lew Harvey	...	Craps Dealer (uncredited)
Samuel S. Hinds	...	Warden of Sing Sing (uncredited)
George Irving	...	Jim's Campaign Manager (uncredited)
William Irving	...	German Note Holder (uncredited)
Jimmy James	...	Chemin de Fer Dealer (uncredited)
Cullen Johnson	...	Boy (uncredited)
Payne B. Johnson	...	Small Boy on Street (uncredited)
Jack Kenny	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Leonid Kinskey	...	Trotskyite Slapping Poppa Rosen (uncredited)
Leo Lance	...	Leon Trotsky (uncredited)
Jack 'Tiny' Lipson	...	Uncle Angus (uncredited)
Dixie Lotten	...	Irish Woman Talking with Poppa Rosen (uncredited)
John Marston	...	Mr. Coates - Gambler Losing Yacht (uncredited)
Ralph McCullough	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Sam McDaniel	...	Black Prisoner on Death Row (uncredited)
Larry McGrath	...	One of Blackie's Hoods (uncredited)
Tom McGuire	...	Policeman in Court (uncredited)
Alex Melesh	...	Master of Ceremonies (uncredited)
King Mojave	...	Croupier (uncredited)
Charles R. Moore	...	Black Man in Speakeasy (uncredited)
Pat Moriarity	...	Trotsky Heckler (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Bailiff (uncredited)
Leslie Preston	...	Jim's Dance Partner (uncredited)
Bert Russell	...	Blind Beggar (uncredited)
Harry Seymour	...	Piano Player in Casino (uncredited)
Lee Shumway	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Pepi Sinoff	...	Jewish Woman (uncredited)
Pete Smith	...	Racetrack Announcer (voice) (uncredited)
Bert Sprotte	...	German Note Holder (uncredited)
William Stack	...	Judge (uncredited)
Landers Stevens	...	Inspector of Police (uncredited)
Stanley Taylor	...	Police Intern (uncredited)
Al Thompson	...	Street Spectator (uncredited)
Edward Van Sloan	...	Yacht Capt. Swenson (uncredited)
Dorothy Vernon	...	Boat Passenger (uncredited)
Emmett Vogan	...	Assistant District Attorney (uncredited)
W.R. Walsh	...	Croupier (uncredited)

Directed by
W.S. Van Dyke
George Cukor		(uncredited)

Writing credits
Oliver H.P. Garrett		(screenplay) and
Joseph L. Mankiewicz		(screenplay)
Arthur Caesar		(story)

Produced by
David O. Selznick	....	producer

Original Music by
William Axt		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
James Wong Howe

Film Editing by
Ben Lewis

Art Direction by
Cedric Gibbons

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Lesley Selander	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Edwin B. Willis	....	associate art director
Joseph C. Wright	....	associate art director (as Joseph Wright)

Sound Department
Douglas Shearer	....	recording director

Special Effects by
Slavko Vorkapich	....	special effects

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Dolly Tree	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
William Axt	....	synchronization (as Dr. William Axt)
W. Donn Hayes	....	supervising editor: musical sequences (uncredited)

Music Department
Maurice De Packh	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Paul Marquardt	....	orchestrator (uncredited)
Domenico Savino	....	composer: stock music (uncredited)

Other crew
G. Pat Collins	....	voice (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Cosmopolitan Productions (for)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)

Distributors

• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1934) (USA) (theatrical) (controlled by Loew's Incorporated)
• MGM/UA Home Entertainment (1994) (USA) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2007) (USA) (DVD)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1935) (Finland) (theatrical)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM) (1934) (France) (theatrical)
• TV3 (1988) (Finland) (TV)

Other Companies

• Turner Entertainment  package design (2007 release)
• Turner Entertainment  supplementary material (2007 release)

Also Known As:

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) | Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15 (cut) | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios - 10202 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Cosmopolitan Productions

Trivia:

"Lux Radio Theater" broadcast a 60 minute radio adaptation of the movie on September 9, 1940 with William Powell and Myrna Loy reprising their film roles.

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:

Eleanor Packer:[to the priest] It must be nice in jail, with you there.

Movie Connections:

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

Soundtrack:

Mary Had a Little Lamb

You don't gotta believe it. You do gotta like it.

Clark Gable plays a really sweet, caring guy who just happens to be a top mobster and cold-blooded killer. William Powell, less than month before his first appearance as wealthy gumshoe Nick Charles in "The Thin Man," is the uncorruptible Manhattan DA who saved Gable's life when they were kids. And Myrna Loy, less than a month before she first appeared as wealthy gumshoe-ette Nora Charles, is the Woman Who Loves Them Both.

Gable finds himself in a quandary: should he let old buddy Powell lose the big election over a dirty lie? Or should he risk the chair to help him?

Decisions, decisions.

How times have changed: a chiseler who's borrowed a bundle from Gable pleads, "I thought I could pay, Blackie! But I ain't got the dough! Please lemme have just a little more time! A couple more days!"

Gable snarls, "I'll give you more time! You got two months! You'll pay then...or else!"

Wow! Two months with no penalty! You can't a get a deal like that from your own bank! That's the kind of movie this is.

So how can it be as good as it is? Gable, Loy, and Powell. Like so many old-time stars, G and P learned early on how to play just one character each (let's call them Rhett and Nick) and they played them to perfection till they quit making movies. Loy was a little more flexible (check out The Best Years of Our Lives), but here she is, Nora Charles before "Nora" was even born.

Nat Pendleton plays one of his trademark goons, and in a small role the Harlowesque Muriel Evans shines, almost literally, as Tootsie.