Review of Manhattan Melodrama (1934) by Joe T — 05 Nov 2007

Nowhere near as good as "Angels with Dirty Faces" (which sort of copied the general idea a few years later)--Clark Gable is too easy-going to really make much of an impact (he doesn't really seem to mind that his best friend stole his girl and is prosecuting him for murder, or that he's going to the electric chair).

But you do get Powell and Loy's first pairing (they had chemistry from the get-go), and you get Shirley Ross in black face, singing "The Bad in Every Man" (which ultimately became "Blue Moon").

The scene where Powell walks away from Gable's execution is surprisingly touching.