Review of Tales of Manhattan

In New York, a man's dress coat, supposedly cursed by a disgruntled tailor, changes the lives of those who come in contact with it. They are: Charles Boyer as a suave actor wooing married Rita Hayworth, Henry Fonda as a nerd who stops Ginger Rogers from marrying skirt-chaser Cesar Romero, Charles Laughton as an aspiring musician, Edward G. Robinson as an unemployed alcoholic about to attend his class reunion, and Paul Robeson and Ethel Waters as poor black farmers (another story starring W.C. Fields was trimmed in 1942 but later became available on home-video--it adds nothing). Short stories told mostly in expert fashion, though some are obviously better than others. Fonda and Rogers are such an odd twosome that the second episode is probably the weakest; the exceptional performances by Laughton and Robinson make their installments the strongest. However, the striking finale, complete with heavenly light and hallelujah chorus, looks so different from the rest (and is filmed like a mini-epic) that it appears to be a reel from another movie altogether. Overall, an entertaining piece for the actors, particularly Robinson as the ultimate underdog, surprisingly vulnerable in an Oscar-worthy turn. **1/2 from ****