Manhattan Melodrama

1934
Approved
1h 33m

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

4.9K

YOUR RATING

Clark Gable, Myrna Loy, and William Powell in Manhattan Melodrama (1934)

The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman.

Play trailer2:51

1 Video

32 Photos

Crime Drama Romance

The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman.The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman.The friendship between two orphans endures even though they grow up on opposite sides of the law and fall in love with the same woman.

See production info at IMDbPro

IMDb RATING

7.1/10

4.9K

YOUR RATING

See production info at IMDbPro

Won 1 Oscar
- 1 win total

Videos1

Trailer 2:51

Official Trailer

Photos32

+ 25

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Storyline

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Trivia
The opening scenes depict the General Slocum disaster on the morning of June 15, 1904. The popular excursion steamer caught fire in New York's East River while transporting passengers to a picnic organized by St. Mark's Evangelical German Lutheran Church on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. With an estimated 1,021 fatalities, mostly women and children, this was New York City's single worst tragedy, in terms of lives lost, before 9/11. An incompetent, inexperienced crew was held primarily to blame for the tragedy.

Goofs
In the cheering New York City crowds on Jim Wade's election night, supposedly in November 1925, theatre marquees are promoting 1933 films, including MGM's Dinner at Eight (1933) and Bombshell (1933) with Michael Strogoff (1910).

Quotes
Edward J. 'Blackie' Gallagher: Die the way you lived, all of a sudden, that's the way to go. Don't drag it out.

Alternate versions
Also available in a computer colorized version.

Connections
Featured in David O. Selznick: 'Your New Producer' (1935)

Soundtracks
Agitato Nos.1 & 2
(uncredited)
Music by William Axt and Erno Rapee

User reviews62

Review

Featured review

Quite a movie

They didn't name this "Manhatten *Melodrama* for nothing - it's classic melodrama! If you can get past the first fifteen minutes or so, what saves this film is the three leads: William Powell, Clark Gable, and Myrna Loy. As a Myrna Loy/William Powell fan, I love the whole scene from their first meeting, as she flings herself into his taxi, and he thinks she is out to wreck his career by pretending he assaulted her! Clark Gable is great as the charming bad guy, too. Of course, in this story about unpunished crime vs. betraying a friend, nobody ever considers the third way, but then it wouldn't be a melodrama anymore, would it? Anyway, if you enjoy golden oldies or any of the three main actors, it's worth watching.