| 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) | |
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| Full cast and crew | Company credits | External reviews |
| News articles | IMDb Crime section | IMDb USA section |
'Manhattan Melodrama' may not have the stylistic finish to it to make it a great message movie about contemporary 30s issues, but it does go a long way towards that end, and is never less than engaging.
Clark Gable is the happy-go-lucky gangster Blackie who is being tried for murder by his boyhood best friend Jim, William Powell, a D.A. who has made it to governor of New York because of a murder done by Blackie, unbeknownst to Jim. On top of it all they both love the same woman, Myrna Loy.
Despite its melodramatic but never overwrought style 'Manhattan Melodrama' has sufficient weight and substance to make itself heard 70 years after the fact. It cuts no convenient corners in the description of the governor's sad plight of having to decide whether his friend should live or die, and it paints a wonderful and believable picture of Loy's character who does what she deems best. Powell delivers a multi-layered performance that has to count amongst his best, and Gable is irrepressible and delightfully amoral as the bad guy we're all rooting for.
Recommended, but please don't judge it by the first 20 minutes which are rather slow-moving, but still entertaining.