Adventure in Manhattan (1936)

Joel McCrea plays a hotshot reporter who thinks he knows everything and Jean Arthur plays an actress who puts one over on him. It turns out the financier of her play is a notorious art ... See full summary »

Director:

Edward Ludwig

Writers:

Sidney Buchman (screenplay), Harry Sauber (screenplay),

Stars:

Jean Arthur, Joel McCrea, Reginald Owen

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Jean Arthur	...	Claire Peyton
Joel McCrea	...	George Melville
Reginald Owen	...	Blackton Gregory
Thomas Mitchell	...	Phil Bane
Victor Kilian	...	Mark Gibbs
John Gallaudet	...	McGuire
Emmett Vogan	...	Lorimer (as Emmet Vogan)
George Cooper	...	Duncan
Herman Bing	...	Otto
Robert Warwick	...	Phillip

Storyline

Joel McCrea plays a hotshot reporter who thinks he knows everything and Jean Arthur plays an actress who puts one over on him. It turns out the financier of her play is a notorious art collector who steals what he can't buy and the play he's financing is just a front for a job he is planning.

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Plot Keywords:

play | reporter | actress | thief | beans | 

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Taglines:

THE GAL WHO TOOK MR. DEEDS TO TOWN STEPS OUT AGAIN...this time with handsome Joel McCrea...in the year's merriest melee of mirth!

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Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English French

Release Date:

8 October 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Purple and Fine Linen

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

73 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Many cast members in studio records/casting call lists did not appear or were not identifiable in the movie. These were (with their character names, if any): Leyland Hodgson (Henchman), Beatrice Blinn (Telephone Operator), Lew Hicks (Policeman), Harry Bernard & Robert Dudley (Program Men), Helen Dickson (Dowager), Georgie Cooper, Larry Steers and Charles C. Wilson.

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Goofs

After George (Joel McCrea) hears Clair (Jean Arthur) scream he goes into the room she's be taken to; and see's a child's coffin with Clair laying on the floor. In the next shot Clair is still laying on the floor but the child's coffin is nearly obscured from view by flowers placed in front of the casket and draped on it.

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Quotes

Claire Peyton: [looks around the room] My, how the Ritz has shrunk.

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Connections

Remake of Three Hours (1927)

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Soundtracks

"Tender Andante"
(uncredited)
Music by Louis Silvers

User Reviews

The birth of 'classic' noir?

Odd mix of noir and screwball that works about as well as you would expect - wait a minute, noir in 1936? Yes, this may be the first fully fledged display of the 'pure' noir mood and style in cinema history - not some watery kind of 'proto-noir'. It's obvious from the very opening scenes - this aspect of the film is quite an eye-opener. It's a pity the whole thing doesn't hang together.

Joel McCrea is a full-of-himself writer-sleuth hired by an irritating news editor - like all news editors, on the edge of a nervous breakdown

• to build up the angle on a crime story. They make heavy weather of

it. It's leaden and not cute. There's a bizarre scene where they're all eating baked beans in McCrea's bedroom. Jean Arthur is a decent actress but doesn't have the right manner for this, too steely and serious. The wisecracks come out of her mouth and hit the floor. The story is hardly redeemed by the obvious twist - and the script, the characters and the actors barely give us reason to wait for it. I was hoping it would have the good grace to finish up after 65 minutes, but it took 72.