Adventure in Manhattan

Let me begin by saying that McCrea and Arthur make one of the best looking, likable, elegant and best acting duos I have ever had the pleasure to watch. ADVENTURE IN MANHATTAN is a zany tale about a newsman (McCrea) who can predict robberies - exactly why he has prediction powers no one can say.

Dialogue is full of repartee and it is rather advanced for a 1936 flick.

Director Edward Ludwig does a great job, cinematography is top drawer and the script does not make a whole load of sense but that is what makes this film so charming,

Joel McCrea gets robbed of his wallet by some weird blonde, who proves to be mixed up with the theatre business, while he is a controversial journalist who is famous for presenting predictions that come true. It's a screwball comedy with straight and witty dialog all the way getting smarter all the time, as the plot gradually thickens, and a great bank robbery is synchronized with a great premiere of a first world war drama with reckless gunfire, bombs, explosions and plenty of smoke, and for some reason Jean Arthur gets the hang of it. She is brilliant, and so is Joel McCrea, they work splendidly together as an odd couple in constant arguments with each other about their incurable differtences, but it's a comedy - nothing to worry about.

This isn't a bad film. The problem is, that this type of mystery comedy was done so much better in The Thin Man films that it pales in comparison. Plus, the character played by Joel McCrea is pretty unlikable, unlike Nick Charles.

McCrea is a top crime reporter for the newspapers. His insights and predictions are uncanny and the problem is he is 100% sure of himself and quite the fat-head! Because he's so smug, I found it hard to like him and couldn't see why nice Jean Arthur was taken in by him. So what if he was so smart--he's still kind of a jerk. As a result, the chemistry just isn't quite right.

The plot itself concerns a master criminal that everyone EXCEPT McCrea thinks is dead. Throughout the film, McCrea swears he will eventually catch this "gentleman criminal", though this man's exact identity is unknown.

The acting is decent and the film does offer a few laughs and interesting moments--but not enough to make this a "must see" film.

This is a fun film for all Jean Arthur and Joel McCrea fans and it is available online. The basic premise is that Joel McCrea is a likable newshound who angers some of his cronies with his boundless ego and they play a little joke on him. Enter Jean Arthur. After some ready made coincidences and a lot of tomfoolery the mystery is solved. In between we have some ideas stolen from earlier pictures and at least a couple that are stolen for later films. I find that kind of stuff fun so I definitely recommend this one as time well spent.

I have long admired Jean Arthur, so when I came across one of her films I did not know I naturally jumped at the chance to watch it. I did not even bother to read any of the reviews here or elsewhere in advance. As it turns out, that was probably the right decision: Some of these reviews might have prejudiced me against this near-perfect 1930s comedy. The plot is too convoluted to summarise here, but director Edward Ludwig manages to present it in a way that makes every twist and turn, however zany, look plausible (at least for the moment). He also gives 'Adventure in Manhattan' great tempo and pace: there is never a dull moment, and many moments that are simply hilarious. Joel McCrea plays a criminologist with a Sherlock Holmes-like ability to put himself in a master-thief's position and to second-guess the thief's plans. As his predictions come true he is so full of himself that one failure is truly devastating. Jean Arthur is great as an actress who thinks he is nuisance but eventually falls in love with him. The dialogues are spot on: sharp and witty. In sum, this is as nice a comedy as you will find: don't believe the reviewers who jumped on the bandwagon talking it down!