Manhattan Melodrama
| Manhattan Melodrama | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | W. S. Van Dyke |
| Produced by | David O. Selznick |
| Written by | Arthur Caesar (story) Oliver H. P. Garrett Joseph L. Mankiewicz |
| Starring | Clark Gable William Powell Myrna Loy |
| Music by | William Axt |
| Cinematography | James Wong Howe |
| Editing by | Ben Lewis |
| Distributed by | Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer |
| Release date(s) | May 4, 1934 |
| Running time | 93 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
Manhattan Melodrama is a 1934 crime melodrama film, produced by MGM, directed by W. S. Van Dyke, and starring Clark Gable, William Powell, and Myrna Loy. The movie also provided one of the earliest film roles for Mickey Rooney, who played Gable's character as a child, and introduced the Rogers and Hart song "Blue Moon", with an entirely different set of lyrics by Lorenz Hart.
Filmed relatively quickly and with a modest budget, Manhattan Melodrama was expected to return a profit, but not to capture the imagination of the public. The picture's smash hit success surprised the studio and made major stars of screen veterans Myrna Loy and William Powell in the first of their fourteen screen pairings, and also solidified the success of MGM's most popular male lead, Clark Gable.
A very familiar tune is introduced in the film with utterly unfamiliar lyrics. The movie presents a nightclub scene featuring Shirley Ross singing an extraordinarily dark song called "The Bad in Every Man." After the film's release, the lyrics were rewritten by Lorenz Hart as the more famous "Blue Moon".
The movie entered the lexicon of history as being the last motion picture seen by the notorious gangster John Dillinger, who was shot to death by federal agents on July 22, 1934, after leaving Chicago's Biograph Theater where the film was playing.[1] Myrna Loy was among those who expressed distaste at the studio's willingness to exploit this event for the financial benefit of the film. Scenes from Manhattan Melodrama, in addition to Dillinger's death, are depicted in the 2009 film Public Enemies based on Dillinger.
Arthur Caesar won an Academy Award for Best Story for this film.
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[edit] Plot
On June 15, 1904, the ship General Slocum catches fire and sinks in New York's East River. Two boys, Blackie Gallagher (Clark Gable, played as a child by Mickey Rooney) and Jim Wade (William Powell, portrayed in these sequences by young Jimmy Butler), are rescued by priest Father Joe (Leo Carrillo), but are orphaned by the disaster. They are taken in by another survivor, Poppa Rosen (George Sidney), who has lost his young son in the sinking. The boys live with Poppa Rosen for a short while; then Rosen, a Russian Jew, is trampled to death by a policeman's horse after he heckles Leon Trotsky at a Communist rally and a melee breaks out.
The boys remain close friends, though their lives diverge. Studious from the very beginning, Jim (played as an adult by William Powell) gets his law degree and eventually becomes the assistant district attorney. Blackie is a cheerful, happy-go-lucky kid who loves to throw dice and con other kids out of their money; he (Clark Gable) becomes the owner of a fancy, if illegal casino. Though his casino is regularly "raided", the cops have been paid off and business resumes immediately after they leave. Blackie's loving girlfriend Eleanor (Myrna Loy), loves him, but pleads with him in vain to marry her and give up his dangerous life.
Jim is appointed district attorney. Blackie arranges to meet him for a celebration, but something comes up, and he sends Eleanor to keep Jim company at the Cotton Club until he shows up. Jim and Eleanor talk the night away. Afterward, she gives Blackie one last chance to marry her and settle down. When Blackie refuses, she leaves him.
Months later, Blackie executes Manny Arnold (Noel Madison) for not paying his gambling debts. Jim summons him to his office, where he tells him that he and Eleanor are going to get married. Blackie is sincerely happy for both of them. Jim also informs his friend that he is a suspect in the Arnold murder. However, there is no real evidence, so the crime goes unsolved.
Though Jim invites him to be the best man at his wedding, Blackie discreetly turns him down. After returning from his honeymoon, Jim runs for governor of New York. Snow (Thomas E. Jackson), who had had been his chief assistant until Jim fired him for corruption, threatens to tell reporters that Jim covered up for Blackie in the Arnold case. Though untrue, this would lose Jim a close race for the governorship. By chance, Blackie and Eleanor meet at the horse track. Eleanor tells Blackie about Snow. Blackie murders Snow in a washroom of Madison Square Garden during a hockey game. A beggar who pretends to be blind sees him leave the scene of the crime. Jim has no choice but to prosecute Blackie. Blackie is convicted and sentenced to death.
Jim wins the election, partly due to the fact that the public knows that Jim is so honest he prosecuted his childhood friend. Eleanor tries to get him to commute the sentence to life imprisonment, revealing Blackie's selfless motive for killing Snow, but that only makes things worse. When Jim remains steadfast, Eleanor leaves him.
At the last moment, Jim hurries to Sing Sing Prison and meets Blackie, together with Father Joe, who is now the prison's chaplain. Jim finally offers to commute the death sentence, but Blackie turns him down. Father Joe leads Blackie to the electric chair while saying last rites.
A few days later Jim calls a special joint session of the New York Legislature. He reveals how the murder helped him win the election and how at the end he compromised his principles and was willing to commute his friend's sentence. He then tenders his resignation. When he leaves, Eleanor is waiting for him. She tells him that she was wrong about him, and they leave together to start a new life.
[edit] Cast
- Clark Gable as Blackie Gallagher
- William Powell as Jim Wade
- Myrna Loy as Eleanor Packer
- Leo Carrillo as Father Joe
- Nat Pendleton as Spud
- George Sidney as Poppa Rosen
- Isabel Jewell as Annabelle
- Muriel Evans as Tootsie Malone
- Thomas E. Jackson as Asst. Dist. Atty. Richard Snow (billed as Thomas Jackson)
- Isabelle Keith as Miss Adams (billed as Claudelle Kaye)
- Frank Conroy as Blackie's lawyer
- Noel Madison as Manny Arnold
- Jimmy Butler as Jim Wade as a Boy
- Mickey Rooney as Blackie as a Boy
- Shirley Ross as Singer in the Cotton Club
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Manhattan Melodrama at the Internet Movie Database
- Manhattan Melodrama at AllRovi
- Manhattan Melodrama at the TCM Movie Database
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