Manhattan Melodrama (1934)

  This is another very heavy story of morality and sacrificing individual needs for the greater good.  Even my leisure time is spent with things meant to make me smarter.  Which was not the reason I added this movie to my queue, by the way.  It's just bad timing to have come up to the top while I'm studying the effects of ideologies in culture.  I added it because it's William Powell and Myrna Loy and also because this was the last film John Dillinger ever saw.  The notorious bank robber was shot by the FBI after leaving the theater.  Now, having seen the movie, the irony is palpable.

Two East Side boys, orphaned after a tragic accident, are taken in by a kindly man (George Sidney) who also lost his son in the event.  Raised as brothers, the two diverge wildly in their career paths.  Blackie Gallagher (Clark Gable) is a racketeer and gambler, always on the move, always looking for the next score.  Jim Wade (William Powell) is the Assistant District Attorney, hellbent on cleaning up the city and maintaining his personal code of ethics.  Eleanor (Myrna Loy) was Blackie's girl but she left him for Jim, realizing that Blackie was never going to give up his gangster lifestyle.  Even that couldn't damage their friendship.  But when Blackie is accused of murder, Jim must decide whether to throw the book at his friend or break his code of honor to help him out.

This is a great movie for the issues it raises but it's so heavy-handed and syrupy in delivery it almost negates all its good qualities.  Dillinger must have liked it because he stayed til the end.  If he had gotten disgusted and walked out halfway, he might have escaped the ambush waiting for him.  But that's neither here nor there.

I've never been a big Clark Gable fan but he's the liveliest part of this film.  Powell and Loy are fantastic together, as always, but apart they get sucked into the melodrama.  Unless you are just really into Dillinger history or a huge fan of one of the principles, I would suggest giving this movie a miss.  Too much melodrama, not enough Manhattan.