Tales of Manhattan

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Tales of Manhattan

Tales of Manhattan VHS cover
Directed by Julien Duvivier
Produced by Boris Morros
Sam Spiegel
Starring Charles Boyer
Rita Hayworth
Ginger Rogers
Henry Fonda
Charles Laughton
Edward G. Robinson
Ethel Waters
Paul Robeson
W. C. Fields
Music by Sol Kaplan
Distributed by Twentieth Century Fox
Release date(s) 5 August 1942 (U.S. release)
Running time 118 min /127 min (restored version)
Language English
IMDb profile

Tales of Manhattan is a 1942 black-and-white anthology film directed by Julien Duvivier. Thirteen writers, including Ben Hecht, Alan Campbell, Ferenc Molnár, Samuel Hoffenstein, and Donald Ogden Stewart worked on the six stories in this film.

[edit] Plot

The stories follow a black formal tailcoat that appears to be cursed. The first story is a love triangle between Charles Boyer, Thomas Mitchell, and Rita Hayworth. Boyer plays an actor who gives his finest performance when he's shot while wearing the jacket.

The second tale is a comic story featuring Ginger Rogers who finds a romantic love letter in her future husband's jacket (the cursed jacket). The jacket was sold to him at a discount. Her boyfriend (Cesar Romero) enlists his best man (Henry Fonda) to help bail him out. Things don't go as suspected when Rogers becomes attracted to Fonda.

The third tale stars Charles Laughton. He plays a poor but brilliant musician whose one big chance at fame and recognition is in jeopardy because of his wearing of the cursed tuxedo. While he attempts to conduct the small jacket rips and the audience erupts with laughter.

The fourth story stars Edward G. Robinson as an alcoholic bum who takes a last shot at life by attending his 25th college reunion. The lawyer wears the jacket and cleans himself up in an attempt to convince his former classmates that he is successful.

The fifth story stars W.C. Fields. This sequence was cut when the film was released to reduce running time. It was the easiest tale to cut without losing continuity, and ironically it was by far the funniest. Phil Silvers and Margaret Dumont also appear.

The final story emphasizes the second notion about the cursed jacket that what is bad for one person may be good for another. A thief steals the coat from a second-hand store and then robs a fancy ball. While escaping, the jacket and money flies from the plane. A poor African-American couple (Paul Robeson and Ethel Waters) in a deep South shanty community finds the jacket along with the over $40,000. They take it to their minister (Eddie Anderson) who gives out the "money from heaven" to people to get what they prayed for. After asking everyone what they prayed for and distributing the cash, the minister asks loner Christopher (George Reed) what he may have prayed for. He says he prayed for a scarecrow. They take the jacket and make a scarecrow out of it. This section of the film, which featured what was considered crude black stereotypes, is what got the film condemned by one of its stars, Edward G. Robinson.

[edit] Cast

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