Manhattan Melodrama

Synopsis

Manhattan Melodrama is a 1934 American pre-Code crime drama film, produced by MGM and directed by W. S. Van Dyke, that stars Clark Gable, William Powell, and Myrna Loy. The movie also provided one of Mickey Rooney's earliest film roles. (Rooney played Gable's character as a child.) The film is based on a story by Arthur Caesar, who won the Academy Award for Best Original Story. It was also the first of Myrna Loy and William Powell's fourteen screen pairings. Notorious criminal John Dillinger attended a showing of the film at Chicago's Biograph Theater on July 22, 1934. After leaving the theater, he was shot to death by federal agents. 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 starring Johnny Depp as Dillinger.

Text license: CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source

Details

Type

Movie

Release date

January 1, 1934

Genres

crime film, drama film

Created by

W. S. Van Dyke, George Cukor

Runtime

93 min

Countries

United States

Cover: Wikimedia Commons · MGM · Public domain · Source