The Mad Miss Manton (1938)
Directed by Leigh Jason

Film Review

The Mad Miss Manton typifies the boisterous madcap comedies that were immensely popular in America in the late 1930s, lively blues-chasers that still have considerable appeal on account of their nonsensical plots, quickfire dialogue and spirited comic performances.  An odd conflation of screwball comedy, murder mystery and social satire, the film brings Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda together for the first time, in what feels like a glorious send-up of the Thin Man films that had enjoyed considerable success recently.  Stanwyck and Fonda are a natural comedy double act and would appear together in two further films, The Lady Eve (1941) and You Belong to Me (1941), on each occasion sparking off each other so effortlessly that it's a wonder the celluloid doesn't catch fire.

The Mad Miss Manton is admittedly lowbrow stuff, an insanely convoluted romp in which cardboard-thin characters chase each other around like slightly inebriated participants in a murder mystery weekend.  What the film lacks in sophistication it amply makes up for with its unflagging sense of fun.  Nicholas Musuraca's exaggerated noir cinematography adds to the film's appeal and even contributes a few far-from-subtle visual jokes.  It's not quite as daft and infantile as an Abbott and Costello comedy, but it's in the same league.  Sam Levene's dim-witted police inspector (sorry, lieutenant) soon manages to get under your skin, but thankfully there's some sterling support from the likes of Hattie McDaniel to keep us amused.  Barbara Stanwyck was one of Hollywood's most versatile actresses but here she is absolutely in her element, dodging knives and bullets with hilarious sang froid and reminding us that girl power is most definitely not a new phenomenon.

Film Synopsis

Early one morning, Manhattan debutante Melsa Manton is out walking her dogs when she sees a playboy acquaintance, Ronnie Belden, run out of a house belonging to the wealthy financier George Lane.  Her curiosity aroused, Melsa enters the house and is shocked to discover a dead body: Lane has been murdered!  Dutifully, she calls the police, but when they arrive the body has gone.  A class-conscious young journalist Peter Ames seizes the opportunity and prints an article attacking the frivolous antics of Melsa and her social crowd.   When Melsa threatens to sue him for libel, Ames discovers that he is in love with her and soon finds himself working with her to solve the mystery of the murdered banker.  Belden is the obvious suspect, but when his corpse is discovered in a freezer Melsa realises that the case may be more difficult than she had imagined.  There is certainly no shortage of suspects...