RIP VI The Mad Miss Manton
Posted By admin on October 11, 2011
This is another one for Peril on the Screen. I had no idea I was so in with Peril on the Screen!
Miss Manton stars Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda and a selection of debutantes. And also a detective who’s in almost every mid-30s screwball comedy/mystery (Sam Levene). Melsa Manton (Stanwyck) finds a dead body while she’s out walking her dogs after a party. Henry Fonda is a newspaper man who reports on Melsa and her friends’ debutante escapades. Soon, they’re suing him because he’s made them “social parasites.” Almost sooner, he’s proposing marriage to Melsa even as he keeps getting her arrested.
They mystery’s worth watching, and I love the sophisticated setting and the amazing wardrobes (though I choose to believe the furs are faux!), but the real payoff is the dialogue. It’s all clever and witty, but Henry Fonda gets the “cherce” lines.
My favorites–first, he keeps threatening violence to make Melsa realize she loves him. He tells her he’ll make her see it if he has to drag her through the breach of promise courts. “You’re a nasty creature, aren’t you? But in time, I’ll beat it out of you.” (You’ll have to take my word that he absolutely shows he’s in love–those eyes–not violent! Or, you can watch it!) Then, there’s a character whom Melsa introduces as her friend’s cousin from Chattanooga. He offers her a drink. Melsa wants him out of the place before he realizes the so-called cousin is part of the mystery. As Melsa rushes him out of her penthouse apartment, the friend comes in. HF says, “I like your cousin even if she won’t hoist a mug with us.” Later, when Melsa’s being held hostage, she finally admits she loves HF, so he comes up to her apartment, and when he sees the bad guy, he says, “A gentleman caller!” In an “I’m shocked, shocked!” tone. I never really think of HF as a funny guy, but he does a great job.
The mystery’s a bit complex, or maybe I get so distracted by the fun that I lose track, but I love this movie so much that I recently bought a new copy because I lent mine to a friend who’s had it several months. I’m happy to spread the Mad Miss Manton love around!
I seem to be heavy on the screwballs, but I actually have Shadow of a Doubt queued up. There are humorous moments, but nothing screwball about it.
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I can’t believe I found this! I saw this movie years and years ago on some classic channel and loved it. Thank you for reminding me–I’m off to see if Netflix has it.
Oh, I hope they do have it! I’m so glad to hear from someone else who loves that movie. Hope you find it and get to watch it again!