''Manhattan Love Song'' is a 1934 American
pre-Code
Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...
film directed by Leonard Fields.
Plot summary
Although sisters Geraldine and Carol Stewart live luxuriously in a
Park Avenue
Park Avenue is a wide New York City boulevard which carries north and southbound traffic in the boroughs of Manhattan and the Bronx. For most of the road's length in Manhattan, it runs parallel to Madison Avenue to the west and Lexington Av ...
apartment in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, their money has run out due to some bad business investments. Their servants, Williams and Annette, expect to be leaving, but the sisters invite them to remain as paying tenants. They agree, then surprise the haughty sisters by expecting them to share in performing the household chores.
Geraldine looks for work, but receives no offers except for a striptease act in a burlesque show. Williams is mistaken for a taxi driver by a wealthy tourist, "Pancake Annie" Jones from Nevada, who has come with her son Phineas to seek an entry into Manhattan high society.
Carol elopes with a rich acquaintance, Garrett Wetherby, which leaves Geraldine on her own, needing money. She accepts the job doing a striptease, but is arrested when the club is raided. Williams decides to accept Pancake Annie's offer to go West in her employment. Geraldine realizes she loves Williams and asks to go along.
Cast
*
Robert Armstrong as Tom Williams
*
Dixie Lee
Dixie Lee (born Wilma Winifred Wyatt; November 4, 1909 – November 1, 1952) was an American actress, dancer, and singer. She was the first wife of singer Bing Crosby.
Biography
She was born Wilma Winifred Wyatt in Harriman, Tennessee, on N ...
as Geraldine Stewart
*
Nydia Westman
Nydia Eileen Westman (February 19, 1902 – May 23, 1970) was an American actress and singer of stage, screen, and television.
Early years
Westman's parents, Theodore and Lily (Wren) Westman were active in vaudeville in her native New Yo ...
as Annette
*
Franklin Pangborn
Franklin Pangborn (January 23, 1889 – July 20, 1958) was an American comedic character actor famous for playing small but memorable roles with comic flair. He appeared in many Preston Sturges movies as well as the W. C. Fields films '' Interna ...
as Garrett Wetherby
*
Cecil Cunningham
Edna Cecil Cunningham (August 2, 1888 – April 17, 1959) was an American film and stage actress, singer, and comedienne.
Early years
Cunningham started her working life as a switchboard operator in a commerce bank and did some sittings as a ...
as Pancake Annie Jones
*Harold Waldridge as Phineas Jones
*
Helen Flint
Helen Flint (January 14, 1898 – September 9, 1967) was an American actress.
Flint debuted as a member of the chorus in the ''Ziegfeld Follies'' when she was 17. Her work on Broadway included more than 20 productions between 1921 and 1946.
Fl ...
as Carol Stewart
*
Herman Bing
Herman Bing (March 30, 1889 – January 9, 1947) was a German-American character actor. He acted in more than 120 films and many of his parts were uncredited.
Biography
Bing was born in Frankfurt am Main, Germany. He was son of the opera ...
as Gustave
*
George Irving as Kenbrook
*
Emmett Vogan
Charles Emmett Vogan (September 27, 1893 – October 6, 1969) was an American actor with almost 500 film appearances from 1934 to 1954, making him, along with Bess Flowers, one of the most prolific film actors of all time.
In 1913, Vogan ...
as Doctor
*
Harrison Greene
Harrison Greene (January 18, 1884 – September 28, 1945) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 230 films between 1931 and 1945. The son of a jeweler, Greene was born in Portland, Oregon, but grew up in California. He was a d ...
as Joe Thomas
*
Eddie Dean as Sam
*Nick Copeland as Al Kingston
*
Tom Ricketts
Thomas B. Ricketts (15 January 1853 – 19 January 1939) was an English-born American stage actor, stage and motion picture, film actor and film director, director who was a pioneer in the film industry. He portrayed Ebenezer Scrooge in the fi ...
as Rich Man
*
Edward Peil Sr. as Employment Agent
*
Hal Price
Harry Franklin "Hal" Price (June 24, 1886 – April 15, 1964) was an American film and stage actor. He appeared in more than 260 films between 1930 and 1952. He is the father of character actress and comedian Lu Leonard.
On stage, Price ...
as Gil, Taxicab Driver
*
Frances Morris as Chorus Girl
Soundtrack
*Dixie Lee - "A Little Shack on Fifth Avenue" (Music by
Edward Ward and
Bernie Grossman, words by
David Silverstein)
*"Daisy" (uncredited player) - "Hang Up Your Hat" (Music by Edward Ward and Bernie Grossman, words by David Silverstein)
1934 films
1930s romantic comedy-drama films
American black-and-white films
Films based on American novels
American romantic comedy-drama films
1934 comedy films
1934 drama films
Films scored by Edward Ward (composer)
Films directed by Leonard Fields
1930s English-language films
1930s American films
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