Romance in Manhattan (1935)

If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Francis Lederer came as close as he would ever get to being a genuine star with his touching performance in ROMANCE IN MANHATTAN. Ginger Rogers, after taking a long weekend off following completion of THE GAY Divorcée, was about to become world famous as a musical comedy star to an extent that has yet entirely to die out. Her role as Sylvia was fairly uncharacteristic for her: entirely sympathetic, straightforward, lovable without any edges. There was no antagonism turning into affection this time around. Such conflict wasn't needed. The plot was about Karel Novak (Lederer) and his struggles to make a life in America. The Depression is all over the movie. So is human charity. It's a combination common to 1930s Hollywood and inevitably described as 'Capra-esque'. Had he been involved, this sweet, lovely film would have gone down as one of Capra's better efforts.Steven Roberts was the actual director. If he hadn't died very young (not long after this film though it wasn't his last. It wasn't even his last with Ginger Rogers) I believe he would have been better remembered. He keeps ROMANCE IN MANHATTAN moving, keeps it simple and fresh, and except for the usual sloppy rear view projection shots so common to the era provides ROMANCE with a form to match its subject without ever drawing undue attention towards his efforts.Given a raw deal, a would-be immigrant jumps ship rather than allowing himself to be deported, is befriended by a chorus girl who has plenty of problems of her own, and tries to build a life with her. That provides plenty of scope for a 73 minute programmer that remains unburdened by any real subplots (the custody battle for Sylvia's brother might qualify as a subplot, but it's so integrated into the main proceedings that I resist describing it as such) and is far less about law or injustice than it is about pure love, and you won't find depictions of love much more pure than that between Karel and Sylvia, or between Sylvia and her brother, relationships completely unburdened by any selfishness whatsoever. The title invokes something more along the lines of a fairy tale than a realistic drama, and while their struggles are almost hyper-realistic in a manner rarely seen in films today, their spirits are positively transcendent, object lessons in how ideally to meet our problems even when afflicted by the most difficult of circumstances.After a really wonderful first hour the ending of ROMANCE IN MANHATTAN is rather rushed, and I'm not sure what accuracy there is to its depiction of contemporary immigration laws (there's never any hint that Karel's marrying Sylvia would enable him to stay in the United States, but only a few years later HOLD BACK THE DAWN would completely revolve around that facet of the law). Also, is Karel really supposed to still be living on the roof of Sylvia's apartment building (as he tells the judge, perhaps untruthfully?) months after working steadily at his various jobs? It hints at censorship concerns for a movie released in 1935. But those things are beside the point. Lederer and Rogers (and the other actors: J. Farrell MacDonald playing his inevitable Irish cop, and Sylvia's brother whose name I don't recall, are just as perfect as the leads) make the film a lovely experience to see. It qualifies as one of those hidden gems that scream to be rediscovered, but somehow rarely are.

ROMANCE IN MANHATTAN (1935) is an immigrant story. Karel Novak (Francis Lederer) comes to America -- "The Land of Opportunity" -- with dreams of becoming a millionaire. He intends to work hard and has already learned to speak English. Right off the boat, he seems an ideal candidate for entry into the country. But the money he's saved is no longer enough to satisfy the immigration fee, which has risen from fifty to two hundred dollars. And so Karel must be sent back to Czechoslovakia, where he may never save enough money for a return trip to the States. Desperate, Karel escapes his deportation and tries to live the American Dream as an illegal alien in New York City.Francis Lederer is supremely likable as Karel Novak, charming and optimistic, though naïve. Karel sees America as the land of his dreams, a place that could well be Heaven. He gets giddy with excitement just seeing the Manhattan skyline lit up at night. Unfortunately Karel enters an America that is mired in a Depression, and millionaires -- and jobs, for that matter -- are hard to come by.Ginger Rogers plays Sylvia, a chorus girl who lives with her little brother, a paper boy when he's not in school (or vice versa). The two earn what they can and take care of each other in these tough times. Sylvia comes to Karel's aid when he's penniless and homeless and soon he's like a member of the family. Sylvia's brother gets Karel a job selling newspapers and Sylvia lets him sleep on the roof of their apartment building. After a while Karel gets a job driving a taxi and starts saving up money to square things with the immigration office. But when Sylvia loses her job, Karel dips into his savings to help out and soon he's back where he started.In the meantime Karel and Sylvia fall in love. And really who can blame them? But Karel's status as an illegal immigrant is going to come back to haunt him and he knows it. And while Karel's struggling with that, Sylvia's trying to keep her brother from being taken away from her and placed in an orphan asylum.ROMANCE IN MANHATTAN is a winner and I don't know how it's slipped under the radar. Francis Lederer and Ginger Rogers are a lovable pair and the film's got Depression-era drama around every corner. Our poor heroes are handed tough break after tough break, just trying to make a go of the "American Dream", but they take each blow on the chin, determined to get by somehow. Karel, the eternal optimist, faces adversity with a smile. It's a cute love story wrapped inside a social drama, and a pleasant watch the whole way through.The question posed at the climax of the film is whether Karel Novak, being a hard-working and respectable young man, deserves any breaks from the immigration office. Sure, he's in the country illegally, but can something be worked out for the poor guy? It's an ethical problem that can be seen as black and white or as shades of gray. The film makes its decision on the matter and I won't spoil it.

I have seen over 2,000 classic films in the last 6 years, and somehow I let this one slip by me. It is rare that I uncover a new classic film favorite, but I did with this film."Romance in Manhattan" works so well thanks to the wonderful performances by Ginger Rogers and especially Francis Lederer. I would have loved to see him hit stardom, but he had a long career and lived 100 years despite not becoming a household name. Lederer is so charismatic and handsome in this film with such an exuberant spirit. A young Ginger Rogers is lovely, has great chemistry with Lederer, and is a loving sister. There are two subplots, but this is mostly about a man coming to America to live the "American Dream" which he does while finding romance along with it. If that appeals to you, then I highly recommend this delightful little gem.

The delightful Francis Lederer shines in this unique drama which salutes the European immigrant in this late depression era drama that shows how determination and fortitude can help goals be achieved. In the case of Mr. Lederer, his Czech background left him desperate to come to America, and he has been saving money for years as well as learning English so he could make the journey. But upon arriving at Ellis Island, he finds out that the regulations for admittance have changed and he is told he will be sent back. This won't do, however, and at his first opportunity, Lederer does a dive out of his port hole, being fished out on the lower east side of Manhattan and losing his wallet.Down on his luck, Lederer befriends a struggling chorus girl (the lovely Ginger Rogers) who helps him out and when he gets a job as a taxi driver, he returns the favor. He is determined to help her keep custody of her troubled younger brother who is always skipping school and being threatened with being put into an institution. Lederer wants to make sure she gets to keep custody so he of course proposes which leads to his identity being discovered and the deportation to go forward. Of course, if you're an illegal immigrant threatened with deportation, it helps to have a big-hearted Irish cop on your side, and here, that is the lovable J. Farrell MacDonald who steals every scene that he is in.This really takes the viewer inside the life of a struggling immigrant, and here the hero doesn't achieve success overnight or become a mobster. He's a very honest sort who believes in hard work, and even faces threats of violence when he reluctantly becomes a scab by driving a cab during his company's taxi driver strike. When he becomes the victim of a shady lawyer, it is his integrity which gets the police force together to help him out, something I don't think you could see in the current day NYPD where red tape has so much glue on it, it sticks without possibility of removal.Ginger Rogers' chorus girl isn't the wise-cracking toughy of "42nd Street" or "Gold Diggers of 1933". She, too, is an honest sort, coming across a starving Lederer stealing from the stash of food left out for the chorus girl's breaks. Jimmy Butler is memorable as her little brother, always charming even when getting into trouble, and one who definitely doesn't deserve the fate planned for him by the two uppity do-gooders (Helen Ware and Eily Malyon) determined to take him away from Rogers' care. This is a surprisingly sweet and affectionate tale of New York during one of its toughest times in history that shows that underneath all that hardness at that time did exist a big heart of gold.