ADVENTURE IN MANHATTAN (1936)

Fun little film about a egotistical crime writer who gets involved with with the case of a notorious art thief (who is believed to be dead), while at the same time romancing a lovely young actress who's in a play that also happens to be the cover for massive jewel job.

When I put this in the trusty ol' Oppo I didn't even know what this film was about, just that it starred McCrea and Arthur, and I ended up pleasantly surprised.  The dialogue was funny, the pace quick, numerous familiar faces, the acting good all around and the crime capers actually entertaining.

At only 73 minutes ADVENTURE IN MANHATTAN is well-worth any classic Hollywood fans time.  Recommended.

THE SILVER HORDE (1930)

I was recently reading about Jean Arthur and I was surprised to find out that she and Joel McCrea starred together in, not one, but two movies before THE MORE THE MERRIER in 1943.  This was the first film and ADVENTURE IN MANHATTAN (1936) the second.  THE SILVER HORDE finds Joel McCrea as an average dude trying to make some money in the salmon business in order to earn some money and therefore be worthy of marrying rich girl Jean Arthur.  Yeah.  Anyway, Joel is in Alaska working his ass off while a rival love interest of Arthur is doing his best to upset McCrea's plans.  But then comes the big shocker...I hope you're ready for this...McCrea's main financial backer used to be a prostitute.  Gasp!!!  Maybe that was a little bit more shocking back in 1930.

As a piece of movie history THE SILVER HORDE is mildly interesting to classic movie nerds like myself.  It has a young Arthur and McCrea, a number of silent movie veterans and portions of it were actually filmed in Alaska, but that's really it.  If nothing in that last sentence grabbed your attention then you should probably just pass.

 

THE GREENE MURDER CASE (1929)

Detective Philo Vance's next case after THE CANARY MURDER CASE finds William Powell once again taking on a murder mystery that the police appear to be stumped on.  The scene of the crime is a mansion full of Greene family members and their servants.  During the night, two of the family members were shot, one fatally.  The police believe it's just a robbery gone bad, but Powell thinks there's more to it than meets the eye.

Although TGMC was made the same year as TCMC everything about it is an improvement.  The acting is better, the sets look nice, the pace is quick, the mystery is pretty light-weight, but still enjoyable enough.

I can't imagine that modern day audiences would have any interest whatsoever in something like THE GREENE MURDER CASE, but if you do then it's worth checking out if only to see an early talkie of William Powell, Jean Arthur and Eugene Pallette.