Manhattan Melodrama is a trivial pursuit game all in itself. Consider the number of things it's known for. 1. The only teaming of Clark Gable and William Powell. 2. The first teaming of William Powell and Myrna Loy. 3. A popular song that didn't get popular from this film. 4. A famous gangster being shot to death because he wanted to see this. 5. William Powell's first film under the MGM banner. And I'm sure I might think of a few more later on.
It's a very dated piece, but made enjoyable because of the skill of its three leads. Two kids, Mickey Rooney and Jimmy Butler who later become Clark Gable and William Powell, are left orphaned as a result of the famous General Slocum disaster in the first years of the 20th century. One works hard, studies hard, and becomes a successful lawyer and prosecutor. The other works hard becoming the kind of man the first one makes a living prosecuting.
Gable's the gambler and his girl friend is Myrna Loy. Gable is his usual charming self, but with a streak of toughness and nobody crosses him. He runs into Powell at the famous Dempsey-Firpo fight and later Powell runs into Loy. She gets a taste of respectability through him and she likes it. Gable would probably be sore about losing her to anyone, but Powell.
Powell rises to become governor of the state and Gable gets to the top of his profession, the death house at Sing Sing. This is where the film truly turns into melodrama. Powell is a person of exacting moral standards a bit too exacting for my taste. I can't see how today's audience could accept the course of action he pursues, for just being TEMPTED to commute Gable's sentence.
Manhattan Melodrama features a song sung by Shirley Ross, The Bad in Every Man. It's a familiar tune, but didn't do anything for the film. Composer Richard Rodgers had faith in his melody however and persuaded his partner Lorenz Hart to try another lyric. He did and Connee Boswell recorded it and made Blue Moon a big hit.
Of course the legend of the film is that John Dillinger wanted so much to see the film that he came out of hiding. As soon as it was over he got betrayed by one of the women accompanying him and the FBI gunned him down in the streets of Chicago. Manhattan Melodrama entered into American folklore after that.
I'm not sure today's audience would feel this film was worth even John Dillinger's life. If he wanted to see Gable, Powell, and Loy so badly, he should have waited later in the year for It Happened One Night or The Thin Man.
It's a very dated piece, but made enjoyable because of the skill of its three leads. Two kids, Mickey Rooney and Jimmy Butler who later become Clark Gable and William Powell, are left orphaned as a result of the famous General Slocum disaster in the first years of the 20th century. One works hard, studies hard, and becomes a successful lawyer and prosecutor. The other works hard becoming the kind of man the first one makes a living prosecuting.
Gable's the gambler and his girl friend is Myrna Loy. Gable is his usual charming self, but with a streak of toughness and nobody crosses him. He runs into Powell at the famous Dempsey-Firpo fight and later Powell runs into Loy. She gets a taste of respectability through him and she likes it. Gable would probably be sore about losing her to anyone, but Powell.
Powell rises to become governor of the state and Gable gets to the top of his profession, the death house at Sing Sing. This is where the film truly turns into melodrama. Powell is a person of exacting moral standards a bit too exacting for my taste. I can't see how today's audience could accept the course of action he pursues, for just being TEMPTED to commute Gable's sentence.
Manhattan Melodrama features a song sung by Shirley Ross, The Bad in Every Man. It's a familiar tune, but didn't do anything for the film. Composer Richard Rodgers had faith in his melody however and persuaded his partner Lorenz Hart to try another lyric. He did and Connee Boswell recorded it and made Blue Moon a big hit.
Of course the legend of the film is that John Dillinger wanted so much to see the film that he came out of hiding. As soon as it was over he got betrayed by one of the women accompanying him and the FBI gunned him down in the streets of Chicago. Manhattan Melodrama entered into American folklore after that.
I'm not sure today's audience would feel this film was worth even John Dillinger's life. If he wanted to see Gable, Powell, and Loy so badly, he should have waited later in the year for It Happened One Night or The Thin Man.