Saturday 31 August 2019

The Mad Miss Manton (1938 Leigh Jason)

Vintage Hattie McDaniel stuff - according to biographer Carlton Jackson, the act of the black maid throwing water in the face of the white man caused quite a stir. It's also great to see she's the boss - when she orders the gals out of the apartment they all leave without protest.


Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda (by all accounts, not a very nice man) star. Sam Levene is good value as the exasperated cop and Stanley Ridges rather good as the baddie. The trick as to how the murder was pulled off is a good one. Written by Philip Epstein (Wilson Collinson story).

The two occasions where the gals overpower Fonda and leave him bound and helpless are doubtless messages of some sort of sexual politics, if one should care to read it like that.

Also with Whitney Bourne, Frances Mercer, Vicki Lester, John Qualen.
Shot by Nick Musuraca, music by Roy Webb; RKO.


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