The Mad Miss Manton - Warner Archive Collection

If you think screwball comedies and murder mysteries make strange bedfellows, think again. The Mad Miss Manton melds the two genres together with surprising ease, and the result is a daffy, thoroughly delightful film that often gets lost in the shuffle when discussing its two stars, Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda. The first of three movies the pair would make together (the most famous of which is the timeless classic The Lady Eve), The Mad Miss Manton zips along at a breakneck pace, but in the few moments when we're permitted to catch our collective breath, the burgeoning chemistry between the two is quite evident and adds a welcome sexy dimension to the wild goings-on.

Stanwyck plays Melsa Manton, a rich, sassy, somewhat flighty New York party girl who witnesses something suspicious while walking her dog after a night of carousing. Her curiosity leads her into an abandoned apartment building, where she discovers a dead body. Melsa notifies the police, but when they arrive, the body has mysteriously disappeared. Lieutenant Brent (Sam Levene) believes this is just one more bogus claim by the mad Miss Manton, who has sent the police on several wild goose chases before, but Melsa won't be deterred, especially after she finds a knife attached to a warning note embedded in her front door.

Rebuked by the police and lambasted by a scathing editorial written by holier-than-thou newspaperman Peter Ames (Henry Fonda), the hopping mad Melsa Manton takes matters into her own hands and mounts an investigation with her posse of well-coiffed, fur-clad fellow debutantes. Along with some help from the now hopelessly smitten Peter, Melsa aims to crack the case...if the killer doesn't bump her off first.

The Mad Miss Manton is a B movie that rises to A status due to its script and cast. The screenplay by Philip G. Epstein, who would famously team with his brother Julius J. Epstein and Howard Koch on the Oscar-winning Casablanca script four years later, chugs merrily along, elevating the rather ridiculous plot with fast and furious repartee and some potent verbal zingers. Watching Melsa lead her gaggle of gorgeous society girls, who are dripping with diamonds and dressed in sequined evening gowns, into sticky situations like an intrepid Army general is a hoot, and the display of girl power, especially Melsa's eagerness to go toe-to-toe with Brent and Peter, is refreshing for a film of this vintage.

Credit Stanwyck - of course - for exhibiting the necessary spunk the character requires without sacrificing warmth, vulnerability, and humor. Stanwyck grabs the film's reins and gallops away, leaving us to marvel at her ability to craft a performance with such apparent ease. She and Fonda make a terrific pair, although reportedly Fonda didn't particularly like his part and was quite reserved and distant during shooting. Fonda hides his feelings well, filing an engaging portrayal that requires him to get roughed up a couple of times by Melsa's bevy of society babes. Chemistry is a tricky thing, and you can see it blossoming between Stanwyck and Fonda as The Mad Miss Manton progresses.

The supporting cast also keeps the movie's engine humming. Levene's priceless facial expressions and exasperated outbursts generate plenty of laughs, and it's impossible to overlook the top-notch work of the always wonderful Hattie McDaniel as Melsa's blunt, tough, protective maid just a year before her iconic, Oscar-winning portrayal of Mammy in Gone with the Wind. McDaniel may have been (very) unfairly saddled with domestic parts throughout her career due to the racism that pervaded Hollywood at the time, but her powerhouse personality adds substance and import to these subservient roles and she maximizes every screen moment. McDaniel always enhances the movies in which she appears, and The Mad Miss Manton is no exception.

A minor blip on both Stanwyck's and Fonda's film radar, The Mad Miss Manton remains a lively, loopy, lovable little movie that breezes by. Director Leigh Jason adroitly juggles the mystery, comedy, and romance elements, and Stanwyck takes care of the rest. Miss Manton may not be a Miss Marple in the detecting department, but she's definitely easier on the eyes, and her youthful effervescence supplies the bubbles to this champagne cocktail of a film.

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray
The Mad Miss Manton arrives on Blu-ray packaged in a standard case. Video codec is 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 and audio is DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono. Once the disc is inserted into the player, the static menu without music immediately pops up; no previews or promos precede it.

A brand new HD master struck from a 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative yields an almost perfect 1080p/AVC MPEG-4 transfer. I say almost perfect, because there's one stretch of the film that's decidedly softer than the rest. Whether that one minute or so at about the 37-minute mark always appeared that way, has deteriorated over time, or is borrowed from another source I can't say, but the shift in quality is noticeable. Thankfully, the picture quickly bounces back to its original, impressive splendor. Excellent clarity and contrast, rich blacks, vibrant whites, and beautifully varied grays join forces to produce a slick, pleasing image that faithfully honors the cinematography of Nicholas Musuraca, who would earn his sole Oscar nomination a decade later for I Remember Mama. Just enough grain to maintain a film-like feel, well-defined details, top-notch shadow delineation in several nocturnal scenes, and striking close-ups that flatter Stanwyck and Fonda also contribute to the transfer's success. No nicks, dirt, or scratches sully the source and no digital hiccups could be detected. If you're a Stanwyck and/or Fonda fan, you'll be thrilled with this superior presentation.

The DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 mono track supplies good-quality sound, especially when one considers the audio's advanced age. Some of the fast-talking dialogue can be tough to comprehend when it competes with various effects, but for the most part, all the snappy exchanges are clear. Sonic accents like gunshots, facial slaps, and sirens are crisp, and a wide dynamic scale handles all the highs and lows of the music score by seven-time Oscar-nominee Roy Webb with ease. Any age-related hiss, pops, or crackle have been meticulously erased, leaving a clean, no-frills track that gets the job done without calling undue attention to itself.

Just a couple of supplements sweeten the disc.

• Vintage Cartoon: Porky the Gob (HD, 8 minutes) - This beautifully restored black-and-white Looney Tunes cartoon puts Porky in the Navy, where he must repel and vanquish a band of pirates determined to hijack his ship.
• Vintage Cartoon: The Penguin Parade (HD, 8 minutes) - This Technicolor Looney Tunes cartoon chronicles the opening of Club Iceberg, a penguin nightclub in Antarctica. A Bing Crosby-like penguin crooner is one of the performers.
• Theatrical Trailer (SD, 2 minutes) - The film's original preview completes the extras package.

The Mad Miss Manton provides more proof that Barbara Stanwyck was the most versatile actress of Hollywood's Golden Age. This lively, engaging comedy-mystery showcases her myriad gifts and also features top-tier work from Henry Fonda and Sam Levene. Warner Archive honors this often overlooked gem with a spiffy transfer struck from a new 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative and remastered audio. No question about it, you'll be mad for Miss Manton! Highly Recommended.