Directed by:
Julien DuvivierCinematography:
Joseph WalkerComposer:
Sol KaplanCast:
Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth, Ginger Rogers, Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton, Edward G. Robinson, Paul Robeson, Ethel Waters, Thomas Mitchell, Eugene Pallette (more)Plots(1)
Tales of Manhattan is a sumptuous multipart film centered around a formal tailcoat. The coat is specially designed for stage actor Charles Boyer, who wears it during a rendezvous with his lady friend (Rita Hayworth). The lady's husband (Thomas Mitchell) shoots Boyer, thus the tailcoat is damaged merchandise and sold at a discount to a bridegroom (Cesar Romero). When the groom's peccadillos catch up to him, the bride (Ginger Rogers) chooses to marry the best man (Henry Fonda) instead, and the coat is shipped off to a second hand store. It is purchased by a would-be composer (Charles Laughton), who wears it the night that he is to conduct his first symphony; alas, the coat is too tight and tears apart, nearly ruining the conductor's debut. Stitched back together, the coat is donated to a skid row mission, wherein the kindly proprietor gives the coat to a down and out drunkard (Edward G. Robinson) so that the shabby gentleman can attend his 25th college reunion. Later on, the coat is stolen by a crook (J. Carroll Naish) in order to gain entrance to a fancy charity ball. The crook holds up the ball and stuffs the loot in the pockets of the coat, but while escaping in an airplane he loses the outer garment. The coat floats down to an impoverished African American shanty community; a farmer (Paul Robeson) decides to distribute the "money from heaven" amongst his needy neighbors. At the end, the tattered coat adorns the shoulders of a scarecrow. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Cast
Charles Boyer
France
Best movies:
Gaslight (1944)
How to Steal a Million (1966)
Barefoot in the Park (1967)
Rita Hayworth
USA
Best movies:
You'll Never Get Rich (1941)
You Were Never Lovelier (1942)
Final Cut: Ladies and Gentlemen (2012) - a.f.
Ginger Rogers
USA
Best movies:
The Green Mile (1999) - a.f.
Producers' Showcase (1954) (series)
The Barkleys of Broadway (1949)
Henry Fonda
USA
Best movies:
12 Angry Men (1957)
Once Upon a Time in the West (1968)
Fail-Safe (1964)
Charles Laughton
UK
Best movies:
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
It Started with Eve (1941)
Spartacus (1960)
Edward G. Robinson
Romania
Best movies:
Double Indemnity (1944)
Scarlet Street (1945)
The Ten Commandments (1956)
Paul Robeson
USA
Best movies:
Show Boat (1936)
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Ethel Waters
USA
Best movies:
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Pinky (1949)
Cabin in the Sky (1943)
Thomas Mitchell
USA
Best movies:
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
Gone with the Wind (1939)
Eugene Pallette
USA
Best movies:
Mr. Smith Goes to Washington (1939)
The Mark of Zorro (1940)
Intolerance: Love's Struggle Through the Ages (1916)
Cesar Romero
USA
Best movies:
Frontier Marshal (1939)
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
The Racers (1955)
Gail Patrick
USA
Best movies:
Love Crazy (1941)
Stage Door (1937)
The Hunchback of Notre Dame (1939)
Roland Young
UK
Best movies:
You Gotta Stay Happy (1948)
The Philadelphia Story (1940)
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Marion Martin
USA
Best movies:
The Man in the Iron Mask (1939)
His Girl Friday (1940)
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Elsa Lanchester
UK
Best movies:
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Bride of Frankenstein (1935)
Murder by Death (1976)
George Sanders
Russian Empire
Best movies:
All About Eve (1950)
Love Is News (1937)
Rebecca (1940)
James Gleason
USA
Best movies:
The Keys of the Kingdom (1944)
Arsenic and Old Lace (1944)
The Bishop's Wife (1947)
J. Carrol Naish
USA
Best movies:
Captain Blood (1935)
Beau Geste (1939)
Anthony Adverse (1936)
Sig Arno
Best movies:
Fair People (1930)
The Great Dictator (1940)
It Started with Eve (1941)
James Rennie
Canada
Best movies:
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Wilson (1944)
Now, Voyager (1942)