Odd mix of noir and screwball that works about as well as you would expect. The noir element is obvious from the very opening scenes - this aspect of the film is quite an eye-opener and is apparently an overlooked early example of the genre - though not the earliest: The Thin Man (1934) is the earliest film I am aware of containing the classic noir elements (and also has an ungainly admixture of screwball). Anyway, as remarkable as the noir sections are in Adventure in Manhattan, the whole thing doesn't hang together, which is a great pity.
Joel McCrea is a full-of-himself writer-sleuth hired by an irritating news editor - like all news editors, on the edge of a nervous breakdown - to build up the angle on a crime story. They make heavy weather of it. It's leaden and not cute. There's a bizarre scene where they're all eating baked beans in McCrea's bedroom. Jean Arthur is a decent actress but doesn't have the right manner for this, too steely and serious. The wisecracks come out of her mouth and hit the floor. The story is hardly redeemed by the obvious twist - and the script, the characters and the actors barely give us reason to wait for it. I was hoping it would have the good grace to finish up after 65 minutes, but it took 72.
Joel McCrea is a full-of-himself writer-sleuth hired by an irritating news editor - like all news editors, on the edge of a nervous breakdown - to build up the angle on a crime story. They make heavy weather of it. It's leaden and not cute. There's a bizarre scene where they're all eating baked beans in McCrea's bedroom. Jean Arthur is a decent actress but doesn't have the right manner for this, too steely and serious. The wisecracks come out of her mouth and hit the floor. The story is hardly redeemed by the obvious twist - and the script, the characters and the actors barely give us reason to wait for it. I was hoping it would have the good grace to finish up after 65 minutes, but it took 72.