Adventure in Manhattan (1936)

Director:

Edward Ludwig

Writers:

Sidney Buchman (screenplay) &
Harry Sauber (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

8 October 1936 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama | Mystery

Tagline:

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!

Plot:

Joel McCrea plays a hotshot reporter who thinks he knows everything and Jean Arthur plays an actress who puts one over on him...

Plot Keywords:

Play | Reporter | Actress | Thief | Beans

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Louise Bates	...	Extra Outside Crime Scene (uncredited)
William 'Billy' Benedict	...	Office Boy (uncredited)
Mary Blake	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Wade Boteler	...	Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Romaine Callender	...	Old Taxi Driver (uncredited)
Wallis Clark	...	City Editor (uncredited)
Dora Clement	...	Nurse Katie - Actress in Play (uncredited)
Clyde Courtright	...	Doorman at Beauty Parlor (uncredited)
Mary Lou Dix	...	Young Attendant (uncredited)
Edward Earle	...	Henchman Jeff (uncredited)
John Eldredge	...	Tommy - Actor in Play (uncredited)
Robert Fiske	...	Henchman Dario (uncredited)
Bess Flowers	...	Miss Arnold - Beauty Salon Attendant (uncredited)
Jack Gardner	...	Reporter (uncredited)
George Ghermanoff	...	Henchman (uncredited)
Jesse Graves	...	Waiter at Otto's Pool Hall (uncredited)
John Hamilton	...	Chief of G-Men (uncredited)
Arthur Stuart Hull	...	First Nighter (uncredited)
Sheldon Jett	...	Newspaper Office Worker (uncredited)
Richard Kipling	...	Army Officer in Play (uncredited)
Mike Lally	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Eddie Laughton	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Raymond Lawrence	...	First Butler (uncredited)
Ralph Malone	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Frank Mayo	...	G-Man (uncredited)
Bert Moorhouse	...	G-Man Jim (uncredited)
Clive Morgan	...	Henchman (uncredited)
Horace Murphy	...	Night Watchman (uncredited)
Wedgwood Nowell	...	Henchman on Telephone (uncredited)
Barnett Parker	...	John - Gregory's Butler (uncredited)
Edward Peil Sr.	...	Police Broadcaster in Montage (uncredited)
Lee Prather	...	Foreman of Press Room (uncredited)
Arthur Rankin	...	Blackton's Secretary (uncredited)
Dick Rush	...	Policeman (uncredited)
Tom Seymour	...	Absent-Minded Man (uncredited)
Charles Sherlock	...	Newspaper Man (uncredited)
Reginald Simpson	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Mary Jane Temple	...	Undetermined Role (uncredited)
Emerson Treacy	...	Injured Soldier in Play (uncredited)
John Tyrrell	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Theodore von Eltz	...	Henchman John Ridley (uncredited)
Robert Walker	...	G-Man (uncredited)
Fred Whalen	...	Pool Table Racker (uncredited) (unconfirmed)
Lloyd Whitlock	...	Henchman (uncredited)

Directed by
Edward Ludwig

Writing credits
Sidney Buchman		(screenplay) &
Harry Sauber		(screenplay) &
Jack Kirkland		(screenplay)
Joseph Krumgold		(story)
May Edginton		(suggested by "Purple and Fine Linen") (as May Edington)
John Howard Lawson		adaptation (uncredited)

Produced by
Everett Riskin	....	associate producer

Original Music by
William Grant Still		(uncredited)

Cinematography by
Henry Freulich		(photographed by)

Film Editing by
Otto Meyer

Art Direction by
Stephen Goosson

Costume Design by
Bernard Newman		(gowns)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
William Mull	....	assistant director (uncredited)

Sound Department
Glenn Rominger	....	sound engineer (uncredited)

Music Department
Morris Stoloff	....	musical director

Other crew
Harry Cohn	....	president: Columbia Pictures Corp. of Calif. Ltd.
Fred Whalen	....	trick shot artist: George Melville's pool trick shot (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation (as Columbia Pictures Corp. of Calif. Ltd.)

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1936) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Teakwood Video (2004) (USA) (DVD)
• Silver Screen Archive (????) (USA) (DVD)
• Sony Pictures Television International (????) (USA) (TV)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

73 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | French

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Argentina:Atp | USA:Approved (PCA #2359) | USA:TV-G (TV rating)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

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:

Continuity: 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.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Three Hours (1927)

Soundtrack:

Scene Sinister

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.