The lives of a number of the workers and executives in a Manhattan skyscraper are affected by the actions of a philandering and crooked company boss.The lives of a number of the workers and executives in a Manhattan skyscraper are affected by the actions of a philandering and crooked company boss.The lives of a number of the workers and executives in a Manhattan skyscraper are affected by the actions of a philandering and crooked company boss.
Photos
- Bank Executive
- (uncredited)
- Mechanic
- (uncredited)
- Young Mechanic
- (uncredited)
- Inspector Ned Connors
- (uncredited)
- Information Clerk
- (uncredited)
- Elevator Passenger
- (uncredited)
- Crook
- (uncredited)
- Janitor
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaOne of a number of early 1930s films such as American Madness (1932) and Prosperity (1932) made on the subject of business corruption and banking practices in the wake of the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and the onset of the Great Depression. In many cases, when reviewing the screenplays of these films prior to production, the censors demanded that such films must inculcate "confidence in banking institutions" and "big business" in the average American. The studios begrudgingly obliged.
- Quotes
Kenneth Burns: 'Brought that voucher for a thousand dollars?
Mr. Hoyt: I won't take the responsibility. I can't.
Kenneth Burns: Then you can take the consequences. You're through.
Mr. Hoyt: I worked hard for you and the company.
Kenneth Burns: Go on! Get out!
Mr. Hoyt: Before I go, I want to tell you something. Everyone who works for you hates you. But they haven't the courage to tell you. Men like you always have someone in their employ whom they can torment and persecute. Someone weak and powerless who can't fight back. Someone like me. I suppose when you were a child, you pulled the legs of grasshoppers just to see them wriggle and squirm.
I wanted to watch this movie because of curiosity about the director, Frank Strayer. He directed the early movies in the Blondie series and he was surprisingly adventurous for a b-movie director (one entry was even a musical). I was surprised that someone with so much artistic ambition was so forgotten.
Manhattan Tower may be a good explanation of why.
The movie starts very well, establishing the hustle and bustle of a skyscraper, with workers and business people toiling away and with birds-eye looks at the hectic streets below. There are quirky and original shots, most notably the way traveling through the elevator shaft is used to indicate height in the building.
Unfortunately, the movie is painfully dull, involving a bickering couple and a sleazy executive. The story is as thin as gruel, both unpersuasive and completely predictable (hence my confusion at the IMDB reviews). The acting is abysmal. The financial stuff is a bit unclear. The comic relief of the drunk guy and the pill-popping receptionist fails to work.
This, perhaps, is the difference between someone like Lewis Milestone and someone like Frank Strayer. They both liked to play with the camera, but the former understood that trick shots are nothing if you don't have a solid story behind them.
- cherold
- Jun 14, 2018
Details
Box office
- Budget
- $50,000 (estimated)
- Runtime1 hour 7 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1