Paul Vanderkill is extraordinarily wealthy because his grandfather happened to buy farmland in what was to become Midtown Manhattan. The Loveland Dance Hall is one of the tenants of the Vand... Read allPaul Vanderkill is extraordinarily wealthy because his grandfather happened to buy farmland in what was to become Midtown Manhattan. The Loveland Dance Hall is one of the tenants of the Vanderkill estates. To reassure his aunt Sophie, Vanderkill visits Loveland to determine wheth... Read allPaul Vanderkill is extraordinarily wealthy because his grandfather happened to buy farmland in what was to become Midtown Manhattan. The Loveland Dance Hall is one of the tenants of the Vanderkill estates. To reassure his aunt Sophie, Vanderkill visits Loveland to determine whether it is as disreputable as Sophie suspects. There he meets a dime-a-dance girl, Madeleine... Read all
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- Panama Kelley
- (as Charles 'Buck' Jones)
- Aunt Minnie
- (as Jessie Rolph)
- Buddy McGonagle
- (as Gary Owen)
- Dr. Schultz
- (as Edward J. LeSaint)
- Park Plaza Waiter
- (uncredited)
- Chet Watson
- (uncredited)
- Dulcey
- (uncredited)
- Park Plaza Waiter
- (uncredited)
- Louise
- (uncredited)
- Charlie - Bartender
- (uncredited)
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Child of Manhattan tells the story of Madeleine McGonegal (Nancy Carroll), a taxi dancer who works at a dime-a-dance club called Loveland, which happens to occupy land owned by one of New York's wealthiest men, Paul Vanderkill (John Boles). Vanderkill is a middle-aged widower and an absentee landlord where the club is concerned, but one evening he visits to see if the place is as wicked as its reputation suggests. He meets Madeleine and finds her strangely innocent and charming, despite the tawdry setting. He romances her, buys her expensive clothes, then sets her up in an apartment as his mistress. You know you're watching a Pre-Code movie when an extramarital sexual relationship is presented in such a straightforward fashion. Vanderkill buys his new girlfriend lavish gifts in a sequence that must have represented a wish fulfillment fantasy for Depression era viewers, and which contrasts sharply with Madeleine's harsh encounters with her shanty Irish family, who bluntly express their disapproval of her new mode of life.
When Madeleine gets pregnant she's apologetic, which I found confusing, frankly; why was it HER fault? (Doesn't it take two?) It's briefly implied that Paul might arrange to have the pregnancy terminated, but instead he offers marriage on condition that it remain a secret. The plot takes several more twists from that point forward, but let it suffice to say that although the tone of the story grows darker, Sturges manages to perk things along with amusing character turns by familiar supporting players Jesse Ralph, Luis Alberni, and Tyler Brooke. Brooke is especially funny in a scene that is the film's comic highlight, Paul and Madeleine's trip to a fancy clothier's on Fifth Avenue called Madame Dulcey's. Brooke, who plays the proprietor of the shop, leaves no doubt about his sexual orientation as he waxes eloquent on the "too too divine" outfits he has in stock, outdoing himself with a description of a $12,000 chinchilla coat as "silver gray, rippling like a river in the midst of early morn -- and so virginal!" (Like I say, it's Pre-Code.) Nancy Carroll gives an excellent performance as Madeleine, at once both comic and poignant, reaching an especially impressive dramatic peak during a hospital sequence. It's a memorable turn, and makes me wonder why her career slowly fizzled out after brief stardom in the early '30s. Leading man John Boles is handsome but somewhat wooden, and too young to play Vanderkill; it's too bad Warner Baxter or Warren William weren't used instead. The most surprising casting choice is that of Nancy's spurned suitor, an Okie blessed with the unlikely name of Panama Canal Kelly. This role is played by cowboy star Buck Jones with requisite sincerity, but his dialog is full of awkward, pseudo-homespun sayings that would make any genuine Okie wince.
In this early effort Sturges explores the balance of power in man- woman relationships as he would later, with more sophistication and polish, in The Lady Eve, The Palm Beach Story, and Unfaithfully Yours. Fans of those films will want to seek this one out, for although it's not entirely successful this movie is surprisingly enjoyable in its own right, considerably boosted by a sparkling performance by the unjustly neglected Nancy Carroll.
P.S. Since writing this review I've managed to locate a copy of the script for the stage version of Child of Manhattan. The basic plot is the same, and several of the play's scenes are repeated almost verbatim in the movie. In the play we see more of Madeleine's family, but most of that material was dropped from the film, and so was a sequence involving an eccentric room-service waiter. It's a funny scene, but it doesn't advance the story. Over all, I'd say this is a case where the screen version is an improvement over the source material. The movie is more tightly focused and satisfying than the stage play.
This is also an example of somethings that did not stick. Deep in the depression, many movies featured the ultra rich - people who just seemed to have money for no reason. Because this was before comical prudery changed films starting with the Code, we have the situation that guy knocks up the girl.
But I found it interesting for yet another reason. Movies from this era were far more willing to question gender roles than now is the case. Oh, today we worry about professions and opportunity. I'm talking about what it means to be a woman or man. In this film, we have our girl, with appealing innocence. She is the child of Manhattan, with clear immigrant, lower class heritage. Both she and the rich guy are noble people, but she far more. The film is about her decisions.
Sturges has taken the time to introduce four older women. They are shoehorned in and have nothing at all to do with the story; they are there only to show strong women, sometimes frustrated strength. There is the older woman at the dance hall where our girl works, who is much loved as she takes care of her girls. We have the aunt of our rich guy who is shown as a forceful nut job.
Then we have the girl's mother. We learn a lot about her past and values. She turns her daughter out on the street when she gets pregnant by her then boyfriend. This woman slaps her adult kids, hard. We spend the final third of the movie with the girl's aunt, something of a world traveller, a poor person's playgirl. She drinks too much but always seems to be on top of things.
Four strong women form the situation-of-womanhood in which we interpret our girl's life. Nothing like that today in mainstream films.
Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.
With this multi-faceted performance Nancy proved she was capable of much more than silly flapper roles. Her character is not self-serving in the least, while John Boles' character Paul is indecipherable. After admitting he is totally in love with the dance hall girl he then states he doesn't want to marry her. An unexpected pregnancy forces his hand and he does the honorable thing by marrying her, but the marriage is a secret one. We are to assume it was to protect his older daughter, but since we never see this daughter we don't have much sympathy for Paul's concerns.
The audience receives a typical happy Hollywood ending in Child of Manhattan but somehow it doesn't quite fit the sum total of the film.
Watch Child Of Manhattan (if you can find it) to see Nancy Carroll at her best.
Update: TCM has recently broadcast this film in a lovely print. That's the one to see.
Decent little meller, without much meller. Much more romance. There's the large dollop of social commentary. Even some Depression material (very little!). I liked it enough to give it a 6 out of 10 score on the movie love/hate gradation scale. Carroll herself is very good in this. Boles does things by rote. Buck Jones is Buck Jones is Buck Jones. I enjoyed watching him do something like this. It's the kind of part that just a year later (and even a couple of years earlier) would have been played by Ralph Bellamy. There, now I've given away a lot of what I didn't say before. Along for the ride in this are Jessie Ralph, Clara Blandick, Jane Darwell, Warburton Gamble, and even, if you look hard enough, Betty Grable. Nat Pendleton and Matthew Betz are prominent in one or two little scenes, too.
Did you know
- TriviaNeil Hamilton played the role of "Paul Vanderkill" for the first two weeks of production; he was replaced by John Boles.
- GoofsNancy Carroll's last line of dialogue was looped in; she's smiling, not speaking.
- Quotes
Mrs. McGonegal: [Speaking with a heavy Irish accent] He ain't no gintleman!
Madeleine McGonegal: He is so a gentleman; half the time I couldn't understand a word he was sayin'.
Mrs. McGonegal: Probably a Grake or an Eye-talian or somethin'.
Madeleine McGonegal: He's not a Greek, nor an Italian neither. He's from New York City, but he *is* a gentleman!
Mrs. McGonegal: Then look out! I seen plenty a gintlemen when I was a housemaid on Fifth Avenue afore I married your pa, rist 'is soul, and compared to ordinary men... huh!
Mrs. McGonegal: [after thinking for a moment] Say, niver, niver walk upstairs in front of a gintleman. Sure, they have their pints, but they're dangerous!
Details
- Runtime1 hour 10 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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