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
Clarence Muse
USA
Best movies:
Double Indemnity (1944)
Love Crazy (1941)
Scarlet Street (1945)
W.C. Fields
USA
Best movies:
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
David Copperfield (1935)
Follow the Boys (1944)
Marcel Dalio
France
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Casablanca (1942)
How to Steal a Million (1966)
The Wing and the Thigh (1976)
Frank Darien
USA
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1938)
You Gotta Stay Happy (1948)
Hellzapoppin' (1941)
Margaret Dumont
USA
Best movies:
A Night at the Opera (1935)
A Day at the Races (1937)
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Mae Marsh
USA
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Miracle on 34th Street (1947)
The Song of Bernadette (1943)
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Victor Francen
Belgium
Best movies:
Madame Curie (1943)
Hold Back the Dawn (1941)
Tales of Manhattan (1942)
Harry Davenport
USA
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Gone with the Wind (1939)
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Little Women (1949)
Bess Flowers
USA
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Rear Window (1954)
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Will Wright
USA
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Inherit the Wind (1960)
Scarlet Street (1945)
Rhapsody in Blue (1945)
Don Brodie
USA
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The Name of the Game (1968) (series)
Little Big Man (1970)
Eddie 'Rochester' Anderson
USA
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Gone with the Wind (1939)
Love Is News (1937)
Jezebel (1938)
Mike Lally
USA
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The Sting (1973)
Singin' in the Rain (1952)
It's a Wonderful Life (1946)
Bert Stevens
USA
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Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
Kenner G. Kemp
USA
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The Best Years of Our Lives (1946)
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Forbes Murray
Canada
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Singin' in the Rain (1952)
Edison, the Man (1940)
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Harold Miller
USA
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Jester Hairston
USA
Best movies:
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Colin Kenny
Ireland
Best movies:
Witness for the Prosecution (1957)
Judgment at Nuremberg (1961)
My Fair Lady (1964)
Gino Corrado
Italy
Best movies:
The Great Dictator (1940)
Fury (1936)
Sunrise (1927)