Le due strade

'Manhattan Melodrama' may not have the stylistic finish to it to make it a great message movie about contemporary 30s issues, but it does go a long way towards that end, and is never less than engaging.

Clark Gable is the happy-go-lucky gangster Blackie who is being tried for murder by his boyhood best friend Jim, William Powell, a D.A. who has made it to governor of New York because of a murder done by Blackie, unbeknownst to Jim. On top of it all they both love the same woman, Myrna Loy.

Despite its melodramatic but never overwrought style 'Manhattan Melodrama' has sufficient weight and substance to make itself heard 70 years after the fact. It cuts no convenient corners in the description of the governor's sad plight of having to decide whether his friend should live or die, and it paints a wonderful and believable picture of Loy's character who does what she deems best. Powell delivers a multi-layered performance that has to count amongst his best, and Gable is irrepressible and delightfully amoral as the bad guy we're all rooting for.

Recommended, but please don't judge it by the first 20 minutes which are rather slow-moving, but still entertaining.

Solid MGM crime drama that is best remembered today as the film John Dillinger saw just before being gunned down by federal agents. The story is a simple one about two men (William Powell, Clark Gable) who grew up together but are on opposite sides of the law. Myrna Loy also stars as the woman initially with Blackie (Gable) who falls for and marries Jim (Powell). Great director and trio of stars with fantastic chemistry elevate this above otherwise banal plot. Young Blackie is played by, of all people, Mickey Rooney! Must've been one hell of a puberty. Also of note is the song "The Bad in Every Man," sung by Shirley Ross here. The song would later be given new lyrics by Lorenz Hart and become the classic standard "Blue Moon."

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.

"Melodrama" is right.

Inside the first eight minutes we've got a ship disaster, a communist riot, and a pre-teen Mickey Rooney loses two sets of parents!

This isn't one to watch for the tight plotting or realism. Watch this for the spectacular cast. Powell is dapper and urbane. Gable is dangerous and charming. Loy knock's em dead. Mickey Rooney is a riot as the young Gable.

By the way - This is the movie John Dillinger was walking out of when he was gunned down by the police.

Also of note : You'll immediately say "Oh - it's that guy," when Nat Pendelton shows up as Spud. He played either a cop or crook in half the gangster pictures ever made.

With a cast like this, how can you go wrong? And the film is a delight from beginning to end. Although all the players were great, special kudos to William Powell, whose uncompromising morals cause him to lose almost everything he has. His is a gut-wrenching performance, and the scene in which he addresses the assembly with tears in his eyes to tell of his own "weakness"--wow. It's rare to see Powell in a role with so much complexity and it is a marvelous performance.