Tales of Manhattan (TCF 1942, W.C.Fields, Rita Hayworth)

Thirteen screenwriters (including Ben Hecht, Donald Ogden Stewart, and even an uncredited Buster Keaton) and a long list of stars come together for episodic narrative Tales of Manhattan about the path a tailcoat takes from swanky Manhattan soirees to scarecrow tatters and the effects it has on each owner.

The stories range from comedic to touching to ironic, dealing with various issues such as love and passion, crime and punishment. A W.C. Fields sequence was deleted because producers felt the comic scene–in which Fields spikes the punch at a temperance meeting–was not consistent with the more dramatic sections. The scene was reinstated in 1996.

The full list of scripters involved was Edmund Beloin, Henry Blankfort, Alan Campbell, Ladislaus Fodor, Laszlo Gorog, Ben Hecht, Samuel Hoffenstein, Buster Keaton, Ferenc Molnar, William Morrow, Donald Ogden Stewart, Lamar Trotti, Laszlo Vadnay

production details
USA | Twentieth Century Fox | 118 minutes | 1942
Director: Julien Duvivier
Script: Ferenc Molnár, Lamar Trotti, László Vadnay, Henry Blankfort, Ladislas Fodor, Ben Hecht,

cast
James Gleason as Joe – Mission Aid Society
Charles Laughton as Charles Smith
Edward G. Robinson as Avery L. ‘Larry’ Browne
George Sanders as Williams
Thomas Mitchell as John Halloway
Elsa Lanchester as Elsa (Mrs Charles) Smith
Eddie ‘Rochester’ Anderson as Rev. Lazarus
Harry Davenport as Prof. Lyons
George Reed as Christopher
Ginger Rogers as Diane
Morris Ankrum as Judge
Gail Patrick as Ellen – Diane’s friend
Marion Martin as ‘Squirrel’ Grey
Charles Boyer as Paul Orman
Rita Hayworth as Ethel Halloway
Henry Fonda as George
Paul Robeson as Luke
Ethel Waters as Esther
Eugene Pallette as Luther – Orman’s butler
Cesar Romero as Harry Wilson
Roland Young as Edgar – Wilson’s butler
Victor Francen as Arturo Bellini – Symphony conductor
J. Carrol Naish as Burglar – Robber #1
W.C. Fields as Professor Pufflewhistle
Phil Silvers as First Salesman at Santelli’s
Margaret Dumont as Mme. Langehanke
Marcel Dalio as Second Salesman at Sandelli’s

• Advise and Consent (Columbia 1962, Henry Fonda, Charles Laughton)

• Epic That Never Was, The (BBC-2 1967, Dirk Bogarde, Merle Oberon)

• Private Life of Henry VIII, The (London 1933, Charles Laughton, Robert Donat)

• Young Bess (MGM 1953, Jean Simmons, Deborah Kerr)

• Dead Men Don’t Wear Plaid (Universal 1982, Steve Martin, Rachel Ward)

• Salome (1953, Rita Hayworth, Stewart Granger)

• Paradine Case, The (TCF 1947, Gregory Peck, Louis Jordan)

• Taking a Shot at Love (Hallmark 2021, Alexa PenaVega, Luke Macfarlane)

• Snowkissed (Hallmark 2021, Jen Lilley, Chris McNally)

• A Winter Getaway (Hallmark 2021, Nazneen Contractor, Brooks Darnell)

• Two for the Win (Hallmark 2021, Trevor Donovan, Charlotte Sullivan)

• Dolly Parton’s Christmas on the Square (Netflix 2020, Dolly Parton, Christine Baranski)

• The Invisible Man (2020, Elisabeth Moss, Aldis Hodge)

• If I Only Had Christmas (Hallmark 2020, Candace Cameron Bure, Warren Christie)