Tales of Manhattan *** (1942, Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth, Ginger Rogers, Henry Fonda, Cesar Romero, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, Edward G Robinson, Paul Robeson) – Classic Movie Review 7397

It is a game of spotting the stars in director Julien Duvivier’s 1942 portmanteau fantasy anthology film Tales of Manhattan that tells of the effect a new, custom-made formal tailcoat has as it changes hands (or bodies) from one wearer to another. Charles Boyer stars as actor Paul Orman, who learns his tailcoat is cursed and will bring misfortune to all who wear it.

There are five segments: (1) a drama about unfaithfulness, with Charles Boyer and Rita Hayworth; (2) a comic tale on the same theme, with Ginger Rogers, Henry Fonda and Cesar Romero; (3) a humorous story about down-on-his luck pianist Charles Smith, with Charles Laughton plus his real-life wife Elsa Lanchester; (4) Edward G Robinson as a homeless man off to a class reunion; and (5) a farming tale with Paul Robeson, which unfortunately seems especially dated.

A sixth tale featuring W C Fields, Margaret Dumont, Marcel Dalio and Phil Silvers was sadly cut from the final theatrical print. Happily, the Fields chapter was restored on the 1996 VHS version.

There is plenty here of interest for Hollywoodphiles, though the film is not always particularly sharp, witty or clever, and only Robinson’s and Laughton’s tales can be counted really a success.

There are numerous writers, including Ben Hecht, but it is the black and white cinematography by Joseph Walker that stands out more than the screenplay’s prose, based on stories by Ferenc Molnar, Donald Ogden Stewart, Samuel Hoffenstein, Allan Campbell, Ladislas Fodor, Laslo Vadnai, Laszlo Gorog, Lamar Trotti, and Henry Blankfort.

It runs 118 minutes and 127 minutes in the restored version.

The main cast are Charles Boyer, Rita Hayworth, Thomas Mitchell, Ginger Rogers, Henry Fonda, Cesar Romero, Charles Laughton, Elsa Lanchester, Eugene Palette, Gail Patrick, Roland Young, Victor Francen, Edward G Robinson, George Sanders, Paul Robeson, Ethel Waters, Eddie  ‘Rochester’ Anderson, Christian Rub, James Gleason, Harry Davenport, Marion Martin and J Carrol Naish.

Another tale featuring Gloria Jean was also sadly cut from the final print when the movie was deemed too long. Some poor new footage was added and the short film was expanded into a 65-minute independent feature, Destiny (1944). Gloria got good reviews, but the movie was only modest success.

Rita Hayworth’s uncle Vinton Hayworth was married to Ginger Rogers’s aunt Jean Owens. That made him Ginger Rogers’s uncle by marriage. His sister Volga was Rita’s mother, whose last name was Haworth, changed later to Hayworth. Rita’s uncle, who was also an actor, changed his last name then too.

Rita and Ginger both star in Tales of Manhattan but share no scenes.

Vinton Hayworth recalled: ‘I used to baby-sit for Rita when she was so little she looked like a Japanese doll. From a baby, she was a magnet for men. Her father used to go with her when she had a date, sitting in the car and waiting for her. He had the duenna idea [normally an elderly woman serving as governess and companion to the younger ladies in Spanish or Portuguese families].’

© Derek Winnert 2018 Classic Movie Review 7397

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