Manhattan Melodrama

Released May 4, 1934

1h 33m

Crime

Drama

List

81%

16 Reviews

Tomatometer

71%

500+ Ratings

Audience Score

Jim Wade and Blackie Gallagher are two boys orphaned by the sinking of a ship. Upon the death of their guardian, also a survivor of the sinking, the boys go their separate ways. Jim (William Powell) grows up to have a prominent political career, while Blackie (Clark Gable) becomes a casino owner and killer. Despite Blackie's lifestyle, the two men remain bonded through thick and thin. But when Jim runs for governor, his association with Blackie threatens his chances.

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Steve D

lives down to its name.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

06/10/23

Full Review

Connor S

The last movie that John Dillinger ever saw was just........good enough.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

05/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

Bring back the electric chair! If there ever was a pro electric chair movie, this is it. Gable, with the blessing of his priest/friend Leo Carrillo (who would go on to TV stardom as The Cisco Kid's faithful sidekick Pancho) is determined to have his moment in the chair, no matter what his pal, Governor William Powell, says. Overall, the movie tells a good story and gives us a chance to see teen-age Mickey Rooney cry up a storm and steal the few scenes he's in. Worth the price of admission.

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

02/04/23

Full Review

Audience Member

I'm giving this 2 stars as it's pretty average fare. William Powell seems miscast as he isn't his usual witty self in this role, but it's still interesting to see him together with Gable. This is another film that demonstrates why the King of Hollywood had no competition for the role of Rhett Butler a few years later. Like everyone else, I spotted Mickey Rooney standing in for the boyhood version of Gable's character, Blackie. The versatile Myrna Loy is her usual Boffo Box Office.

Rated 2 out of 5 stars

01/12/23

Full Review

Ed M

A little dated but three legends: Gable, Powell, Myrna. And where else are you going to see Mickey Rooney play a young Clark Gable?

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

01/04/22

Full Review

deke p

1934! All-Star cast! GREAT MOVIE!!! Death row & NY politics movie. DA William POWELL becomes NY governor. Gangster CLARK GABLE. MYRNA LOY! WOW!! Begins with Sensational 'Riverboat' fire scenes with people & children burning alive, seems very advanced for 1934. PS: Did i really hear Gable's character, walking to DEATH ROW, say to a black inmate, 'So long, Black-Boy'. But Gable's character was named 'Blackie', and the 2 were obviously friends. Blackie went to his death as a real good sport. Maybe little like CAGNEY in "ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES"? do read the Wikip. This was the movie Gangster JOHN DILLINGER went to see before police shot & killed him exiting the theater. MYRNA LOY objected to capitalizing on that. SPOILER ALERT: Wm POWELL gets elected NY Governor, but learns his crook bro Gable murdered a guy to silence a scandal that would have prevented his bro getting elected, then GOV offers his bro to commute the death penalty, Gable refuses & dies, then Gov 'submits' his reelection. I forgot Saw it 1st time ever on The Movie Channel 8.8.21. Now NEW YEARS DAY 2022 its on Movie Channel again. Oh, and the cast also had: LEO CARILLO as an Irish or was it Italian sounding Catholic Priest. And boy MICKEY ROONEY.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

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W. S. Van Dyke II

Director

Clark Gable

Edward J. `'Blackie'` Gallagher

William Powell

Jim Wade

Myrna Loy

Eleanor Packer

Leo Carrillo

Father Joe

Isabel Jewell

Annabelle

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THR Staff

Hollywood Reporter

Audiences will not fail to react emotionally to the intelligent writing of it... Each situation is milked dry, yet never overplayed.

May 8, 2018

Full Review

TIME Magazine

Well directed by W. S. Van Dyke, superbly photographed by famed Chinese Cinematographer James Wong Howe, Manhattan Melodrama is first-rate cinema, chiefly important because it marks the elevation to stardom of Myrna Loy.

Jul 26, 2010

Full Review

Variety Staff

Variety

Apart from the Clark Gable-William Powell stellar duo and Myrna Loy, who does an excellent job as the principal femme, the Arthur Caesar story is replete with punchy popularly-appealing ingredients.

Mar 26, 2009

Full Review

Josephine O'Neill

Daily Telegraph (Australia)

Makes the modern stuff manneredly anaemic in comparison. And how many films have copied its plot?

Oct 14, 2020

Full Review

Ann Ross

Maclean's Magazine

The audience suffers quite a long time before. Not recommended.

Jul 22, 2019

Full Review

Emanuel Levy

EmanuelLevy.Com

This MGM prestige production, winner of the Original Story Oscar, features its top stars, Gable, William Powell and Myrna Loy.

Rated: B

Mar 21, 2013

Full Review

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Synopsis

Jim Wade and Blackie Gallagher are two boys orphaned by the sinking of a ship. Upon the death of their guardian, also a survivor of the sinking, the boys go their separate ways. Jim (William Powell) grows up to have a prominent political career, while Blackie (Clark Gable) becomes a casino owner and killer. Despite Blackie's lifestyle, the two men remain bonded through thick and thin. But when Jim runs for governor, his association with Blackie threatens his chances.

Director: W. S. Van Dyke II
Screenwriter: Oliver H.P. Garrett, Joseph L. Mankiewicz
Production Co: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Genre: Crime, Drama
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 4, 1934, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Jan 1, 2009
Runtime: 1h 33m

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