Tonight's Movie: The Mad Miss Manton (1938) - A Warner Archive Blu-ray Review

The giddy screwball comedy THE MAD MISS MANTON (1938) was recently released on Blu-ray by the Warner Archive Collection.

I first saw this film in 2007, thanks to Turner Classic Movies, and last year I had the delight of seeing it in 35mm at the 2024 TCM Classic Film Festival. Watching it at the Egyptian Theatre with a packed crowd was a treat.

This is a film which I enjoy more on each viewing, so revisiting it thanks to the new Warner Archive Blu-ray was great fun. I may have watched it as recently as a year and a half or so ago, but who cares when you're watching this cast having fun in beautiful black and white? It's a film I've found to have great "rewatch" value.

Late one evening wealthy Melsa Manton (Barbara Stanwyck) is walking her dogs and eventually finds herself entering a mansion uninvited...where she finds a dead body!

When Police Lieutenant Brent (Sam Levene) arrives on scene, the body is gone. He and newspaperman Peter Ames (Henry Fonda) don't believe Melsa actually saw a body. Despite that, Peter finds himself irresistibly attracted to Melsa, and they begin a combative romance of sorts.

Melsa and a group of her wealthy girlfriends (including Whitney Bourne and Vickie Lester) are determined to solve the case...

This movie, written by Philip G. Epstein, was based on a story by Wilson Collison, with uncredited contributions by a quartet of writers. It may not be very deep, but it's highly amusing, with quite a bit of good dialogue.

The movie, directed by Leigh Jason, moves along at a great clip, so it's impossible to be bored. And as mentioned above, Stanwyck and company look glorious, photographed by Nicholas Musuraca.

Another part of the fun is the great supporting cast. The movie is packed with great players such as George Chandler, Grady Sutton, Olin Howland, John Qualen, Hattie McDaniel, Paul Guilfoyle, Stanley Ridges, James Burke, Penny "Blondie" Singleton, Miles Mander, Leona Maricle, and even the Queen of Dress Extras, Bess Flowers, as a charity ball guest. I love watching and mentally naming each actor as he or she comes on screen.

The excellent Blu-ray print is from a 1080p HD master from 4K scans of the original nitrate camera negative. Sound quality is solid.

Blu-ray extras consist of the trailer plus the cartoons THE PENGUIN PARADE (1938) and PORKY THE GOB (1938).

THE MAD MISS MANTON is a diverting 80 minutes, and I especially recommend seeing it via the new Warner Archive Blu-ray.

Thanks to the Warner Archive for providing a review copy of this Blu-ray. Warner Archive Blu-rays may be ordered from Movie Zyng, Amazon, and other online retailers.

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