Young Man of Manhattan (1930)

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

I know I'm second-guessing the author, but this movie is about a couple rather than one young man. In any case, it's a romantic comedy about a couple of newspaper reporters who meet at a boxing match and decide to get married shortly thereafter. Maybe too shortly, because marital problems ensue due to alcohol and money - a bad combination. The principals are Norman Foster and Claudette Colbert who were real-life man and wife at the time. I thought there should be more chemistry between the two as a result, but it was just enough to make the movie work. They get superb help throughout from Charles Ruggles, who was very funny and displayed impeccable comic timing and saved many a scene. Also in the cast, in her first full-length feature film, is Ginger Rogers, with dark hair and an irritating Betty Boop-type voice. She was almost unrecognizable at first glance.Foster's character is as a sportswriter, and there are some fascinating shots at Yankee Spring training camp in Florida with a look at Babe Ruth and a fleeting glimpse of Lou Gehrig. There is also some footage of the Dempsey-Tunney fight in 1927. On the whole, the film was good - I gave it a rating of six. I sometimes think that an old picture may have several worthy landmarks, mileposts and noteworthy appearances, but age alone does not make a good picture. Some relics are just old artifacts.

I thoroughly enjoyed this quirky little film that plot-wise isn't much more than the story of the trials and tribulations of a newlywed couple, starring an actually married couple, Claudette Colbert and Norman Foster. What makes it special are the precode themes, the look inside the lives of somewhat normal people in big bustling New York City at the end of the Jazz age but before the Depression has really taken hold - there's not a mention of it here, and finally Ginger Rogers as a knock-off of Helen Kane, something she did only early in her career.The story revolves around the whirlwind courtship and then marriage of movie columnist Ann Vaughn (Claudette Colbert) and sports columnist Toby McLean (Norman Foster). We don't see much chemistry building between the two - they barely have met when Toby bursts into Ann's hotel room and declares his love, and in the next scene they're married. Ann claims to be a modern sort, says she doesn't mind paying for their apartment, says she thinks that they should feel free to see other people for dinner dates although they're married, and talks the talk of a thoroughly modern woman. However, flapper Puff Randolph (Ginger Rogers) chasing her husband and Ann's discovery of her husband's seeming lack of professional ambition soon has her walking a different kind of walk. It doesn't help that both Ann's and Toby's jobs have them spending long stretches on the road and away from each other.Charles Ruggles really did a good job here as Toby's friend and fellow sports columnist Shorty Ross. Paramount gave Ruggles more than his share of parts as the annoying perpetual drunk in the early 30's, and in this film he does more than enough drinking, but manages to get some good lines in - usually at the expense of Puff - and also adds to the humor of the film in a significant way. I'd highly recommend this film for fans of precode and films that display the Jazz Age in full flower.

The "Young Man of Manhattan" of the film is a young sports writer, Toby McLean (Norman Foster). He falls in love instantly with Ann Vaughn (Claudette Colbert), a newspaperwoman and they get married. Unfortunately, numerous circumstances, such as a "16 year-old who thinks she's Greta Garbo" (Ginger Rogers), and jealousy threatens to kill their perfect marriage.Having read and liked the book (A thoroughly forgotten fluffy bestseller of the 20's) of the same title, I was interested in how it would be made into a musical. It's not really a musical though, like the IMDb says; it's a drama with a few songs thrown in here and there. It wasn't a bad movie, actually a lot better than a lot of early talkies. Surprisingly, it's very faithful to the book. Claudette Colbert and the rest of the cast are solid; Ginger Rogers is fun and it was cool to see her so young and still red-headed. She performs an utterly charming song, "I Got It But It Don't Do Me No Good".Norman Foster is fine, but often comes across as whiny and a bit wooden. Still, Young Man of Manhattan is a great one for 1930, and worth seeking out for the stars.

Ann (Claudette Colbert) and Toby (Norman Foster) are journalists who meet, fall in love and marry. Toby meets Puff (Ginger Rogers) after one of his assignments and decides that she will be the inspiration behind a money-making story. However, when Puff is introduced to Ann, Ann has the same idea about a story with Puff as the main character. Toby throws away his yet unstarted manuscript as Ann is a far more efficient and ambitious story-teller. While she spends her time forging ahead with her career, Toby is happy to just get by. He also meets up with Puff after Ann has told him not see her again. This leads to a separation. Will Ann take him back....?...It's an early film so the sound quality is poor and it's curious to hear Ginger Rogers speaking in a cutesy, baby-voice. Still, the cast do well and Colbert is good in the lead role. I think that they could have come up with a better title than "Young Man Of Manhattan". The film is OK.