Classic Movie Mondays ~ "The Mad Miss Manton"

 

If you've read my previous blog posts, you know how much I love Bette Davis movies. And while she is my all-time favorite, my second is the dramatic Barbara Stanwyck. 

Turner Classic Movies showed a string of Stanwyck's movies, so I put the DVR to work and recorded some I hadn't seen. 

The Mad Miss Manton was the first one I watched, and I loved it! Even though I like Stanwyck for her dramatic acting, she also nails this comedy role. 

The movie is a romantic comedy/ murder mystery. Stanwyck's character Melsa Manton a quirky lady with a group of ride or die friends that work together trying to solve a murder.

Melsa is out walking her dogs when she someone she knows come running from an empty home. She calls to him as he runs from the house, but he doesn't answer and jumps in his car and drives away.

Curious, Melsa enters the house and finds a dead body lying on the floor. She rushes out to call the police and when they show up; the body is gone.

Now, the police don't believe Melsa. Why? Because she's a quirky lady, and she calls police for trivial matters, like helping her sick dog. And she's known as a prankster. 

The police lieutenant doesn't believe her and scolds her for calling and wasting his time.

So, what does Melsa do? She calls in her "ride or die" group of ladies, and they get to work solving the mystery. 

This leads to many comical situations and her run-in with her love interest and editor of the newspaper, Peter Ames, played by Henry Fonda. 

The love/hate relationship between the two moves the story forward and also creates some funny scenes. 

In the end, with the help of her friends and Peter, Melsa solves the mystery. I won't spoil the ending by revealing the murderer. 

But, I will share one of my favorite scenes. 

Melsa and her friends find another dead body. She calls the police, but again, they don't believe her. so, what does this group of ladies do? Drop the dead body off the newspaper editor's office- Peter Ames.

The crazy antics and fun characters in the movie had me laughing out loud at times. I recommend watching this one, and I'd watch it again. 

Next week, don't be surprised if my post is another Barabar Stanwyck movie!