The Mad Miss Manton

Leigh Jason's 1938 film is a good example of the period template that fused murder mystery with screwball comedy. The socialite Melsa Manton discovers a body, but by the time the police arrive it has vanished, and everyone declares her a prankster. So Melsa sets out with her circle of friends to solve the murder herself. It is the first film Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda made together, and their rapport foreshadows The Lady Eve. The comedy comes largely from a group of wealthy women turning a criminal investigation into a social occasion. The class satire is light but present: nobody takes these women seriously because they take nothing seriously, and that is exactly why they can solve the murder. It is a tight RKO production at standard quality, running under seventy minutes. Who it's for: viewers interested in classic Hollywood screwball and the Stanwyck and Fonda pairing. Who it's not for: anyone wanting the mystery's logic to hold tightly, or bothered by the period's mockery of its women characters.