The Man with a Cloak (1951) User Reviews (31)

No Dagger, but a Great Cloak

[randwolfray · 8/10 · 16 July 2010]

Thank goodness for TCM, because every once in a while we catch a forgotten gem not yet available on DVD, and this is one of those. Sure it's a somewhat lightweight film, but it has its heavy moments, and sometimes you don't feel like watching "War and Peace," you just want something entertaining and substantive enough to keep you watching. I thoroughly enjoyed this.

The setting in 1848 New York was interesting. I like stories with time periods and settings not usually thought of. When you mention the 1800s most Americans are thinking cowboys and Indians and the Old West, or else the Civil War. Yet there were whole regions and eras in our country's history not usually covered that surely are brimming with stories.

Some have criticized the movie for its stilted dialog, but hey, that's the way upper crust people talked back then. Just try reading a book written in 1848 by a more cultured author, and you'll see what I mean. I found it interesting to listen to. The cast was great, too. I have never thought of Joseph Cotten as a particularly handsome actor, but that mustache made him look rather dashing! He should have worn it more often. And then there's Jim Backus... Ususally stereotyped as Mr. Magoo or Thurston Howell III, here he showed us his depth as an actor by making the serious character of Flaherty seem so real and natural.

There's a murder in this mystery, but it's not at all what you would think. There are several plot twists that. while not spectacular, are still suspenseful and entertaining. You may or may not be caught by surprise by the revelation at the end, but many viewers will be. I highly recommend this film and hope it is soon available on DVD.

Peculiar, unusual, well-acted and thoroughly enjoyable...

[moonspinner55 · 7/10 · 20 October 2009]

In 1848 New York, a beautiful but naive French girl arrives by ship seeking out her fiancée's grandfather in hopes of securing funds for the young man's political cause back in Europe; instead, she finds the elderly millionaire under constant danger of being murdered by his mercenary household staff--with only a mysterious wine-lover (and unemployed town poet!) able to assist her. Screenwriter Frank Fenton, working from a story by John Dickson Carr, sets up the pieces within this gas-lit milieu very carefully, and his witty, theatrical dialogue is often a hoot. Newcomer Leslie Caron, in only her second Hollywood picture, works her tender vulnerability to good effect in a tailor-made role, though predictably it is Barbara Stanwyck as the household's 'mistress' who steals most of the thunder (she's a formidable foe--with a smirk of stone and bedroom eyes to boot). Joseph Cotten is also excellent as the man of the title who comes to Caron's aid, and the twist involving his character is a smashing one. Not an important movie, but an engaging one, with a well-upholstered production and solid supporting players. *** from ****

Victorian Film-Noir?

[bobc-5 · 7/10 · 28 May 2001]

Barbara Stanwyck, running the household for wealthy French ex-patriot Louis Calhern, is waiting with the rest of the staff for the old man to die while perhaps helping to speed things up a little. Things get complicated when the grandson's fiance (Leslie Caron) shows up expressing need for the old man's money. It doesn't take long for mysterious stranger Joseph Cotten to get involved. An erudite alcoholic with no money but clearly superior breeding, he takes the young woman's side and proves to be a formidable match for the devious household.

The movie appears to be uniquely conceived as a film-noir mystery put into a Victorian time frame. The opening scenes, the plot structure, and the character conflicts all clearly fit the film-noir style, and this is further enhanced by putting Stanwyck in a familiar role as the femme fatale. Aside from an embarrassing few minutes of singing, she is as excellent as her somewhat limited role allows her to be, and the rest of the cast performs excellently as well.

Unfortunately, the story turns out to be not as much of a mystery as it could be and the film-noir stylings are greatly watered down in order to create the type of Victorian atmosphere which would meet the expectations of most of the viewers. It's an enjoyable, well-made film, but it definitely lacks the bite it might otherwise have had.

Good stylish suspense

[funkyfry · 7/10 · 25 October 2002]

Cotten is the title character, confessing to be a poet and living on the charity of his landlady and the local barman. He feels great affection and admiration for Caron's character, who's come from France to try to secure an inheritance from her fiance's grandfather (Calhern) for her husband-to-be so he can use it to help his people, or something like that. Anyway, a faded theatre diva (Stanwyck) and the manservant are counting on that inheritance and won't let Cotten and Caron get away with it. Some very contrived moments, but on the whole a mood and tone consistent with its 1840s setting, and a story that is interesting to watch. Calhern is a standout as the dying man. The film's most memorable scene is when Calhern, on his deathbed, concocts a potion to end his life with, only to watch his lawyer unwittingly drink the drugs and die before him in the prime of life. Calhern's character can't speak, and this scene generates a very high level of suspense. Good show all around.

A semi-historical costume drama

[wrbtu · 28 October 2001]

A semi-historical costume drama about literature's first detective (or his author), as played by Joseph Cotton. The acting is excellent all around. Cotton is good, he doesn't try to do too much with his role, & it would have been tempting to ham it up during some drinking scenes, but he underplays his part nicely. Barbara Stanwyck is deliciously evil as she tries every imaginable trick to achieve her goal. Leslie Caron is cute & believable as a French woman in a role tailor made for her. Joe De Santis does well as the heavy. Louis Calhern overpowers each scene he's in, but that's what his character calls for. Another thing I enjoyed about this film is that it's apparently headed towards several cliches, but manages to avoid them before getting there & doesn't follow the usual expected plot pattern. It's by no means a Film Noir, but it shares some very snappy dialog with that genre, especially between Cotton & Stanwyck. If the film had a little more suspense or mystery, & it would have been a real winner. I rate it 7/10.

Victorian noir, indeed

[bob_gilmore1 · 7/10 · 20 January 2009]

While not in the top drawer of mystery films of the era, the film should come as a pleasant surprise for those interested in the period and definitely will register with films of the noir genre. The plot is difficult to sum up quickly but rest assured that it is literary and interesting, involves at least one or two good twists and sports a fine cast of players better known for work in more famous films. Joseph Cotten is particularly fine as the man of mystery who foils an attempt to rob the inheritance related to the demise of an old reprobate (Louis Calhern) in 1840's New York. Throw in Barbara Stanwyck at her most sultry and Leslie Carone at her most innocent and you have a film that does not exactly match the excitement generated by the opening scenes but holds one's attention nonetheless.

A small drama with big names

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 15 May 2006]

Joseph Cotten, Barbara Stanwyck, Louis Calhern, and Leslie Caron star in "The Man with a Cloak," a 1951 thriller set in 1848 New York. A young woman (Caron) comes to New York to get money for her boyfriend's political cause from his grandfather (Calhern). Grandpa is in the clutches of his ex-girlfriend turned housekeeper (Stanwyck) and a surly butler (Joe De Santis) who are waiting for the old man to die so they can get his money. The Caron character thinks they are trying to kill him, so she appeals to an apparent ne'er do well who hangs at the local bar, Dupin (Cotten) for help.

This is a slow-moving story for sure, but Cotten has some great dialogue nonetheless. Stanwyck looks beautiful and is very good as the duplicitous woman. Alas, these are film careers on the wane, as evidenced by the smallness of the film. Caron is quite young and appealing, and of course, her star would go up and up. The ending has a twist that is quite fun. I have no idea if it's historically preposterous or not, but this movie needed a kick and it was a good one. Certainly worth seeing for its stars.

naked city circa 1848

[RanchoTuVu · 7/10 · 21 January 2005]

A curious film hampered by an overwritten and stagy script, Man With a Cloak starts off looking like it might deserve to be as forgotten as it apparently is. However it recovers nicely when we see its plot unfold. Joseph Cotten plays Dupin, an intellectual, fond of drinking, but without a steady income, who spends much of his time in the local establishment owned by the kindly yet pragmatic Flaherty (Jim Backus). The young French woman Madeline Minot (Leslie Caron) arrives in New York from France with a letter of introduction from her fiancée, now manning the barricades in Paris, to his grandfather, the wealthy but dying Charles Therverner (Louis Calhern) who must spend his last days surrounded by the avaricious staff of the house, who impatiently await his death, in the vain hope that they will somehow get his money. Barbara Stanwick, as the head of the house, and Joe De Santis as the brutish and menacing butler, along with Margaret Wycherly as the housekeeper, have waited years for the old man to die, and are now confronted with the arrival of Madeline Minot, who is also seeking the old man's fortune although for the altruistic purpose of aiding the establishment of a republic in France. While the dialog tends towards the verbose, the story maintains your interest, especially the unlikely romance of sorts between Stanwick and De Santis, a romance based not on any mutual attraction, but on their shameless complicity in hastening along the dying process. Cotten, as Dupin, manages to come between them and in the process infuriates the butler though his anger is played with taut control by De Santis, whose performance is memorable. All in all, it is one of those films, that if you can catch it on TCM, is definitely worth watching.

a moody, dark film

[hildacrane · 9/10 · 14 August 2005]

I suspect that this was thought of as a small production by MGM at the time, but it's got two of my favorites, both of whom were perhaps not quite as "big" as they had been a few years earlier: Stanwyck and Cotten (maybe the only time he was mustachioed on film?). This film has a lot going for it: wonderful score by David Raksin, the rich voices of the principals, Louis Calhern chewing up all of the period scenery, and strong black-and-white photography. It's a period thriller, but a leisurely one, with a nice sense of atmosphere. The script has some lively exchanges between characters, although the artifice shows a bit sometimes. Stanwyck's character is a little ambiguous, but that seems appropriate in a way. Always-reliable supporting players Joe DeSantis and Margaret Wycherly (the terrifying mum in "White Heat") are fine as the cohorts of Stanwyck's "Lorna Bounty"--what a great name! And there's a beautiful raven too. What more can you ask for?

Poetic Justice

[wes-connors · 6/10 · 30 May 2012]

In 1848 New York, mysterious wanderer Joseph Cotten (as "Dupin") watches pretty young Leslie Caron (as Madeline Minot) arrive from Paris, France. She is looking for her lover's wealthy grandfather, Louis Calhern (as Charles Thevenet). Penniless and thirsty for wine, Mr. Cotten meets Ms. Caron and the two form a bond. Caron wants Mr. Calhern to finance the French Revolution. Caron finds Calhern is very ill, and expected to die. Moreover, she suspects actress-turned-housekeeper Barbara Stanwyck (as Lorna Bounty) and her staff may be helping the old man into his grave. Nice work from photographer George J. Folsey and the MGM crew. Clearly, director Fletcher Markle should have received more film assignments. The mystery involving Cotten's alcoholic character plays out as gimmicky and false, but "The Man with a Cloak" is worth an invitation.

****** The Man with a Cloak (11/27/51) Fletcher Markle ~ Joseph Cotten, Barbara Stanwyck, Leslie Caron, Louis Calhern

Suspense fails to ramp up in 19th century drama.

[st-shot · 5/10 · 17 August 2010]

Man with a Cloak has an impressive roster of performers but somehow they fail to jell as a team to make for a winning film. Usually Joseph Cotton and Barbara Stanwyck shine in these dark ambiguous roles but here they fail to connect like the rest of the cast who also seem disconnected from each other. It's as if they are still in rehearsal working on their parts and oblivious to everyone else.

Wealthy Charles Tavernier (Louis Calhearn) is near death. Loyal but fed up housekeepers await the day to collect the inheritance they feel they so richly deserve. Enter Madeline Minot (Leslie Caron) from Paris who tries to persuade Tavernier to leave his money to his grandson and her fiancé. On the periphery but soon inveigling his way into the drama Dupin a mysterious poet takes up the cause of Minot as Tavernier starts to circle the drain.

Stanwyck as the plotting housekeeper gives a nice icy performance in attempting to outwit Minot and Dupin. As things begin to unravel she retains her cool pushing around fellow conspirators and undermining Tavernier's health. Cotton is miscast as the poet more in search of a drink than a sonnet. He lacks the carefree nature of a free spirit and is more smug than charming as the protagonist. Caron is a dour GiGi, Margaret Wycherly steals every scene she utters a word and Calhearn walks off with the acting honors as the withering Tavernier.

Director Fletcher Markle and cameraman George Folsey serve up a few William Wyler deep focus moments with some revealing compositions but they never build up enough steam to sustain the whole film or heighten tension before capping things off with a silly denouement that reveals to the audience they have wasted their time.

An almost forgotten treasure

[krorie · 8/10 · 15 May 2006]

Though the mystery man is in reality no mystery man--most viewers will be able to identify the literary figure from the beginning--this movie gem now almost forgotten is well written, well acted, and well presented. It still packs a wallop, filled with thrills and suspense. Not surprisingly, the leads give outstanding performances as one would expect from the likes of Joseph Cotten, Barbara Stanwyck, Louis Calhern, and Leslie Caron. What is surprising is how well Jim Backus (Mr. Magoo) as Flaherty the good-hearted if cynical bartender shines in a small part, as does Joe De Santis, now known mainly for his TV work, playing the sinister and potentially deadly Martin, the butler. Margaret Wycherly too plays Mrs. Flynn, the pessimistic yet wily housekeeper, to perfection.

The story by detective novelist John Dickson Carr while not all that original is aided by a witty script by Frank Fenton. The plot is a rehash of the age-old ploy of a group of hangers-on after an old man's fortune, this time led by a conniving siren. What makes this one somewhat fresh is the introduction of a historical character and a pretty French guest who supplies intrigue smiting of revolutionary Europe in 1848, in the aftermath of the fall of Napoleon's empire. There is also an unexpected death to make it all the more interesting. All in all an entertaining film that deserves more recognition.

A strange hold

[TheLittleSongbird · 7/10 · 24 June 2020]

The title for the film may sound simplistic, but there was just something very intriguing about the story. There may be a little bias though, being a fan of crime dramas/mystery thrillers (my favourite genres when it comes to film and television, books too). The cast also sounded very interesting and the actors forming it are a talented bunch, am especially fond of Barbara Stanwyck. She have her fair share of not particularly good films but she was always a strength and the main reason to see them.

Although she did do much better films than 'The Man with a Cloak', she did do worse as well. She comes off very well here, as to be expected, as do the rest of the cast. Without her, 'The Man with a Cloak' would have been one of those watchable but average fare sort of films. With her though the film is not great or quite one of those repeat viewings-worthy films, but it is worth seeing for fans of the cast and of the genre(s). Anybody that loves 40s crime dramas and mystery thrillers set in a different period will find 'The Man with a Cloak' too.

Stanwyck is the best thing about 'The Man with a Cloak'. Her performance has a lot of formidable steel to it that helps make her character more unsettling, while not making the character one-dimensional. Joseph Cotten is suitably enigmatic and has a dashing yet mysterious charisma. Louis Calhern's character is a colourful one (in personality) and he seemed to be enjoying himself. Leslie Caron is endearingly innocent and Joe DeSantis and Jim Backus are solid in their roles, Backus in a departure role.

It's not just the cast that are good. There is a lot of atmosphere to the production values, especially the use of lighting and the eerie settings. The score is suitably haunting. The script does have a good deal of snappy and intelligent parts and the direction is generally slick and comfortable within the genre. The story is generally fun and gripping with the turns in the plot preventing it from being obvious without being too much that it goes too far the other way. The big twist is not the most earth shattering of ones but it was clever at least.

Not a perfect film by all means though. 'The Man with a Cloak' would have benefitted from a tighter pace and what would have solved that would have been having a tauter script. Some of it is on the long-winded side and some of it comes over as quite stiff.

Furthermore, 'The Man with a Cloak' could have done with more suspense as the mystery was all present and correct but needed more spark.

Overall, worth seeing but not a must see. 7/10

You could do better.

[planktonrules · 5/10 · 9 July 2018]

Madeline (Leslie Caron) arrives in the United States to meet with a horrible old man, Mr. Tevenet (Louis Calhern). Why? Because Tevenet's grandson, a revolutionary, wants money to help him and the republican cause*. Tevenet is not in favor of the new republic and is a nasty old crank...but inexplicably likes Madeline and asks her to stay. This is a problem, as the staff in the Tevenet household was planning on taking all his money once the old man dies...and now, potentially, he'll give it to the grandson. How will they try to stop Madeline? And, how will Madeline's new acquaintance (Joseph Cotten) fit in to all this?

When "The Man With a Cloak" debuted, it lost a ton of money (several million in today's money). Does this mean the film is terrible or was it just a good film that didn't find a market? After all, with Barbara Stanwyck, Joseph Cotten and Leslie Caron, it obviously had some excellent actors in the picture.

I found this film to be extremely talky. All too often, instead of action, folks talked...and talked. Sadly, there was a great fight scene near the end...but it was too little, too late. Plus, instead of just ending there, the film went on a bit...resulting in a very good ending being not so very good. Worth watching if you are a bit fan of the actors...otherwise an easy film to skip. Or, perhaps, you might want to watch the film as there are a few clues scattered here and there about who Dupin actually is.

By the way, there is a trick or treating scene in the film. The film is set around 1940...but trick or treating didn't come into vogue until the 1920s. Oops.

Stanwyck Sings !

[GManfred · 29 March 2012]

... maybe that's why she never sang in any other picture. But that's a minor point, because "The Man With A Cloak" is an absorbing, interesting 84 minutes with a surprise payoff. I hate rehashing plots, but just a couple of brushstrokes; Joseph Cotten arrives in NYC, as does Leslie Caron, he penniless and she interceding for her fiancé back in Paris (it is 1848). She is looking for her fiancé's dying grandfather (Calhern) to intercede for funds and runs into Cotten. She tells him she has come to an impasse in the form of Calhern's iron-willed housekeeper (Stanwyck). It seems none of Calhern's staff like him and hope he will die soon so they can split his fortune. Together Cotten and Caron try to outwit his staff's plans to hasten Calhern's departure.

I disagree with most of the other reviewers and I felt it was a very good story (from a book by John Dickson Carr) which keeps the viewer off balance throughout. It is held together by old pros Stanwyck and Calhern and keeps you guessing right up to the end of the picture. I thought it could have used some mood music at times to heighten tension in some spots, but on the whole it is a very entertaining 84 minutes without any perceptible down time which could have been edited out. Good, solid, if unspectacular, filmmaking. And don't forget; there is a unique ending as a bonus.

"Some men leave goodwill. Others just a will."

[utgard14 · 6/10 · 6 August 2014]

Interesting period thriller about a young Frenchwoman (Leslie Caron) who comes to New York City looking for the grandfather (Louis Calhern) of her fiancé, a French patriot. She soon finds herself in the middle of a plot hatched by the grandfather's housekeeper (Barbara Stanwyck) to steal the old man's money. The only person she can turn to for help is a cloaked stranger (Joseph Cotten) she meets at a tavern.

Not bad but not great costumer. Stanwyck is fine. Caron is pretty and likable in just her second film. Cotten is the best part of the movie. His character's true identity is the movie's big twist. A twist that is likely spoiled for you if you read too much about this one before you see it. Still, the clues are there throughout the picture, such as the character's assumed name and a certain bird that appears throughout. Nice score by David Raskin helps set the mood of a routine story masked by its setting.

New York of the 1840s

[bkoganbing · 7/10 · 4 April 2020]

Two years before The Man With A Cloak came out Paramount scored a great success with The Heiress also set in the same time and place of New York in the 1840s, specifically here 1848. I read here that this film was a box office flop and that's a pity, it has a lot to offer.

Young Leslie Caron comes over from France, she's the fiance of the grandson of Louis Calhern a former French marshal of Napoleon who went into exile in America taking a considerable fortune with him. By rights his money should go to the grandson, but Calhern's household staff is scheming for it for themselves.

Barbara Stanwyck, Joe DeSantis, and Margaret Wycherly are the staff and Stanwyck of course is the brains of the crew. Stanwyck gets to play another of her coldhearted scheming females that she does so well. In this case a Phyllis Diedrichson of Henry James New York.

Playing the title role is Joseph Cotten, a mysterious and penniless traveler from Baltimore who meets Caron and becomes her protector. they have some great scenes.

Lots of similarities between The Man With A Cloak and The heiress. Same time and place in history and the same gothic and moody atmosphere in both. Why one film succeeds and the other doesn't who can really know about the fickle taste of the public.

As for Cotten he leaves New York leaving unpaid bills and worthless IOUs. The autograph on them would be worth millions now to the holder's descendants.

Genre-less but very fun

[HotToastyRag · 7/10 · 30 October 2018]

Joseph Cotten takes the lead in this genre-less film that takes place during the mid-1800s and is set in New York. Joe is a poor poet who frequents Jim Backus's bar far more often than he should, and when Leslie Caron blinks her doe eyes at him, he gets involved in a deadly mystery to help her. Leslie is on a mission to get some money from her boyfriend's grandfather, Louis Calhern. Louis is dead-set against his grandson, but he's taken with the French cutie pie so he agrees to hear her out. While staying in his house, however, Leslie gets the feeling his servants are trying to kill him, so she asks Joe to help her out.

Frank Fenton's screenplay is witty and smart, so even though this is a drama, there are several times when you'll laugh at Jo's drunken quips. As fun as it is to see Leslie Caron in her second film, she's still pretty green and doesn't really bring as much stage presence to the screen as her costars. But, with Barbara Stanwyck, Joseph Cotten, and Louis Calhern as her supporting players, they're able to buoy the movie up and make it enjoyable. Parts of this movie are suspenseful, parts are romantic, parts are funny, so there's a lot to keep your attention when you sit down during the afternoon to watch it. You might groan a bit at the far-fetched ending, but overall, it's pretty good.

OK but hoped for better

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 30 August 2014]

It's 1848. Young Frenchwoman Madeline Minot (Leslie Caron) arrives in NYC to see Charles Francois Thevenet (Louis Calhern). He is the wealthy grandfather of her fiancé and had been with Napoleon. His grandson hopes that he's willing to support the Republic. She is introduced to Lorna Bounty (Barbara Stanwyck) who manages his affairs and tries to keep Minot away from him. She pushes her way in to ask for money to help the cause. Bounty and the butler Martin seems to be waiting for the old man to die and leave the fortune to them. They are not happy that Minot is invited to stay. The only man who helps her is the broke Dupin (Joseph Cotten), the man with a cloak. Minot tells him that they're trying to kill Thevenet.

The movie starts very simply and there is no mystery. There is some overacting and unimpressive writing at the beginning. The movie does improve a little. Stanwyck is quite good as a cold calculating character. She's like a black widow spider. However it's not as dark as it needs to be. I wanted the Dupin character to be more complicated and more murky. The movie never gets truly interesting. There is a reveal of the name at the end but I don't see it as that fascinating or that enlightening. It answers a question that nobody is even asking.

Dialogue

[gpacioli · 9/10 · 21 March 2005]

Saw this on Television the other day --- The writers know how to create great dialogue --- Movie has been under-rated with technical critique --- See it if you have a chance and choose for yourself. I am searching for the screen play so that I may examine the lines in greater detail. Also I am investigating how the screen writers collaborated to produce quality bit of badinage and intelligences. I went to TNT but their database doesn't have it listed so I can't buy the film from them. I want to see it again if ever it is broadcast again so I may confirm my first impression. I think, to make this comment longer, that the best comments are the most distilled comments; ones that do not show any attempt to show or claim superior knowledge. That explains why my preferences demand concise, to the point, relevant dialogue lines. I hope you will forgive me for being so wordy.

The Purloined Will.

[rmax304823 · 6/10 · 17 December 2008]

Joseph Cotton is Dupin, the hard-drinking literary guy in a black cloak. He becomes acquainted with M. Thevernet (Louis Calhern) in New York City in 1848. Calhern is a sick old man who drinks too much and is being watched night and day by his wife, Barbara Stanwyck, and his butler, Joe DeSantis, both of whom are just waiting for Calhern to kick the bucket so they can inherit his money. However, Leslie Caron shows up, a young French woman begging for some of Calhern's loot to aid her brother who is involved in a revolution in France. Calhern writes a new will, leaving Caron a generous portion of his estate, but hides it and there follows a final ironic resolution in which people get their just deserts.

At first, I thought the writer, Frank Fenton, adopting a John Dickson Carr story, might have OD'd during a binge on the collected works of Edgar Allen Poe. Too many coincidental things going on. Cotton's character is "Dupin," as in August Dupin, the detective in two of Poe's short stories? And Dupin quotes aloud from "The Raven" without having to read it? Okay -- but before Poe even WROTE it? And that Raven, Villon, who perches at the foot of the dying man's bed. All these literary intrusions began ringing bells -- bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, bells, and more bells -- until they began tintinabulating.

I don't know why the story was set in New York, which never had much of a French presence -- mainly Dutch, English, and a little Swedish. New Orleans would have been more apt, since it had been French for a long time and was to remain culturally French for another century or more. But then, of course, as we discover at the end, New Orleans happens to be a city in which the man in the cloak never set foot.

The dialog is highly stylized. People say things like, "Perhaps you would like another drink before you go." "You would" -- not "you'd." And "perhaps", rather than "maybe." This technique induces a proper amount of estrangement -- in the sense of distance, not animosity -- and is useful in suggesting that a foreign language is being spoken. It's less successful in suggesting 1848 in New York, as Martin Scorsese realized. And it simply doesn't seem natural coming from a miscast Barbara Stanwyck, who really belongs in movies like "Double Indemnity" and "Clash by Night." Stanwyck is a tough broad, not a poseur.

I don't know why some people have squeezed this into the noir genre because all it really is, is a drama with some mystery and character exploration in it. I found it pretty entertaining despite the stilted dialog and the occasional clumsily directed scene. (Two obvious stunt doubles in a fist fight.) Joe De Santis is no more than adequate as the villainous butler. Leslie Caron is hardly present. But Margaret Wycherly as the housekeeper is pretty good. So is Jim Backus as Flaherty, the friendly bartender. And Joseph Cotton is refined and effective, even if he doesn't display the simmering anger and racism of his historical forbear.

Diverting show. Not bad.

So many twists and turns

[jfarms1956 · 4/10 · 13 July 2014]

The Man With A Cloak is a movie best enjoyed by baby boomers and for those who like a good mystery movie -- not really for children. The movie is best enjoyed on a rainy afternoon or very late at night. The movie has so many intertwining plots and sub plots that the real crux of the story is revealed at the very end. The real plot is not the story but the ending. You'll need to watch it at least twice to appreciate the movie. The first time through, you'll be caught up in the dialog plots. The second time through for clues for the final plot. I think Leslie Caron detracts from the movie and her part should have been for another actress who is less squeaky when she speaks. Wine and cheese would go well with this flick. I give it 4 thumbs up out of ten.

Talky and Confined

[LeonLouisRicci · 6/10 · 16 May 2013]

Not bad, but aside from the "surprise" last denouement, quite an unremarkable period piece. A heavy bit of Melodrama with some interesting Dialog exchanges. It all seems rather confined and is not as much gloomy as it is less roomy.

Things are strung together with as much threading as necessary but it does seem to ramble a bit and is lesser for it. The suspense suffers as things can get a bit talky with much ado about drinking and fortunes.

But it is Worth a Watch for its sums are better than the parts and it comes together nicely, if suddenly, and makes the experience worthwhile. There are some offbeat Characters and some nice interplay, but in the end it could have used more tension and less talk.

Dark hearts keep the curtain down on a gloomy melodrama.

[mark.waltz · 4/10 · 15 February 2017]

In what could have been referred to as "A Parisian in Manhattan", Leslie Caron changes coasts and shows up at the unhappy mansion of the elderly Louis Calhern. Claiming to be engaged to his grandson, she presents him with a letter from the unseen grandson asking for money. Mysterious stranger Joseph Cotten befriends her, getting an introduction to Calhern's well dressed "companion", a seemingly sinister Barbara Stanwyck who was once a great stage star, but refuses to be identified as the "housekeeper". Along with nefarious servants Margaret Wycherley and Richard Hale, Stanwyck seems to be up to no good which raises the suspicion of intent to harm Calhern from the visiting Caron. With Cotten and Stanwyck becoming more acquainted, the list of ne'er do wells increases in this dark, moody thriller that takes its time getting started with plot.

Handsome looking but gloomy in mood, this is not up to comparison with others of the same genre. Even a song by Stanwyck in husky voice and Jim Backus as a tavern owner, this New York set story captures the atmosphere of the Big Apple not at its nicest. The cast is uniformly excellent, but ultimately, it is very depressing and humorless. Caron is a believable waif, but lacks the screen magnetism that she had in the colorful painted Parisian sets, dancing with Gene Kelly. I have to label this one a disappointment considering its cast, macabrely directed by Fletcher Markle, a veteran of radio shows who lacked in big screen flare.

Atmosphere and Poe

[jarrodmcdonald-1 · 17 September 2014]

Some motion pictures about famed literary writers come across rather stilted or insipid, but this is one of the more inspired productions. Much better than 20th Century Fox's THE LOVES OF EDGAR ALLAN POE, this film-- based on the life and legend of Poe-- comes to us from MGM and it boasts a wonderful cast: Joseph Cotten, Barbara Stanwyck, Louis Calhern, Leslie Caron, Jim Backus—need I go on? Stanwyck was a last-minute replacement for Marlene Dietrich, and while one wonders what putting Dietrich with Calhern would have been like, the results of this motion picture concoction are so smooth and so good that it seems to have turned out the way it should have. The film has some genuinely suspenseful moments, and it brims with atmosphere, enhanced by the studio's generally excellent production values.