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.

---

Plot Keywords:

play | reporter | actress | thief | beans | 

---

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!

---

Genres:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery

---

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.

---

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.

---

Quotes

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

---

Connections

Remake of Three Hours (1927)

---

Soundtracks

"Tender Andante"
(uncredited)
Music by Louis Silvers

User Reviews

A good cast brightens this mixed up mystery

Joel McCrea and Jean Arthur have an "Adventure in Manhattan" in this 1936 film, also starring Thomas Mitchell and Reginald Owen, and directed by Edward Ludwig.

McCrea plays a sharp criminal reporter who is convinced that a world-famous thief, believed dead, is actually very much alive and responsible for some big heists that have taken place. He meets Arthur, a young actress, and the two fall in love as McCrea tries to prove his theory.

This is a really enjoyable film, with delightful performances by McCrea and Arthur. It's a bit all over the place - part screwball, part mystery. I frankly didn't see much of Nick and Nora Charles in it as others have. But the dialogue is bright, McCrea and Arthur have good chemistry, and some aspects of the mystery are good. McCrea is often thought of as sort of a poor man's Gary Cooper: a handsome, hunky all-American. In westerns there is more of a similarity, with Cooper having more gravitas, but McCrea's lighter touch and more overt personality lent themselves well to comedy. That's where he and Cooper parted company.

Enjoyable, and with a better script, it would have been terrific.