classicsoncall Review of Tales of Manhattan

Tales of Manhattan (1942)

"Looks more like the rear end of a million dollars."

[7/10 · 12 January 2013]

The best recommendation here is to catch the gamut of stars that appear in this collection of vignettes crafted around the story of a formal tail coat, part of a suit that was 'cursed' when made by Bertoldi the tailor. The garment didn't necessarily spell trouble for all of it's brief owners, and some of the segments don't pass the credibility test, but that's a minor point. Overall this is an entertaining film and doesn't over stay it's welcome until the final piece, which as another reviewer remarked, looked like it might have belonged in a different picture. Strong performances are turned in by Charles Boyer, Charles Laughton and Edward G. Robinson in their stories, and you'd win a trivia bet posing the question of where Cesar Romero, Henry Fonda, Ginger Rogers and Roland Young ever appeared together on screen. I have to say, W.C. Fields cracked me up with his incendiary one-liners aimed at friend and foe alike. I'll have to remember his technique of ordering a drink, the amount of liquor measured by a vertical finger, not horizontal. Similar to the second sequence with Fonda and Rogers, the final act brings together some of the notable black performers of the day, Paul Robeson, Ethel Waters and Clarence Muse, and for me, it's always a treat to catch Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson in a role where Jack Benny isn't around.