''Manhattan Tower'' is a 1932 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

film directed by

Frank R. Strayer Frank Raymond Strayer (September 21, 1891 – February 3, 1964) was an actor, film writer, director and producer. He was active from the mid-1920s until the early 1950s. He directed a series of 14 '' Blondie!'' (1938) movies as well. Biography ...

starring

Mary Brian Mary Brian (born Louise Byrdie Dantzler, February 17, 1906 – December 30, 2002) was an American actress who made the transition from silent films to sound films. Early life Brian was born in Corsicana, Texas, the daughter of Taurrence J. ...

and James Hall.

Plot

Mary Harper and Jimmy Duncan both work at the Empire State Building, he as an engineer, she as a secretary. They would like to marry and buy a house that they saw advertised in a window in the building lobby, but they need more money. Mary asks her womanizing boss for advice, and he persuades her to give him all her savings to invest. Unbeknownst to her, the boss has speculated in the commodity market, and lost not only his money and that of his wealthy wife, but also some of the firm's funds too. His wife would like to quietly divorce him to marry her politician friend, but the husband asks her for money to avoid a scandal. When Mary changes her mind and asks for the return of her savings, her boss refuses and mistreats her. That causes a confrontation between Jimmy and Mary's boss, and they fight. Meanwhile, the politician and an honest accountant of the firm, who discovered his superior's misdeeds but kept silent, fearing to lose his job, decide to confront Mary's boss. During the fight, he takes a gun from a drawer, and menaces them all. He trips and falls through a window to his death. The witnesses decide to declare it a suicide and go on with their lives. There are other intertwining stories of people who work at the Empire State Building, and a bank run started by a casual comment by the politician's secretary.

Cast

as Mary Harper *

Irene Rich Irene Rich (born Irene Frances Luther; October 13, 1891 – April 22, 1988) was an American actress who worked in both silent films and talkies, as well as radio. Early life Rich was born in Buffalo, New York. At age 17, she wed Elvo Elc ...

as Ann Burns * James Hall as Jimmy Duncan *

Hale Hamilton Hale Rice Hamilton (February 28, 1880 – May 19, 1942) was an American actor, writer and producer. Biography Hamilton was born in Topeka, Kansas in 1880. (His birth year is sometimes listed as either 1879 or 1883.) Hamilton's Broadway debut w ...

as David Witman *

Noel Francis Noel Francis (born Noel Frances Sweeney, August 31, 1906 – October 30, 1959) was an American actress of the stage and screen during the 1920s and 1930s. Born in Texas, she began her acting career on the Broadway stage in the mid-1920s, befo ...

as Marge Lyon * Nydia Westman as Miss Wood * Clay Clement as Kenneth Burns *Billy Dooley as Crane Eaton *

Jed Prouty Jed Prouty (born Clarence Gordon Prouty; April 6, 1879 – May 10, 1956) was an American film actor. Biography Born as Clarence Gordon Prouty in Boston, Massachusetts, Prouty was a vaudeville performer before becoming a film actor. Mostly app ...

as Mr. Hoyt *

Wade Boteler Wade Boteler (October 3, 1888 – May 7, 1943) was an American film actor and writer. He appeared in more than 430 films between 1919 and 1943. Biography He was born in Santa Ana, California, and died in Hollywood, California, from a heart ...

as Mr. Ramsay *

Walter Brennan Walter Andrew Brennan (July 25, 1894 – September 21, 1974) was an American actor and singer. He won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for his performances in '' Come and Get It'' (1936), ''Kentucky'' (1938), and '' The Westerner ...

as Mechanic (uncredited)

External links

* *
Restored version at Internet Archive
{{DEFAULTSORT:Manhattan Tower 1932 films 1932 drama films American black-and-white films Films directed by Frank R. Strayer Empire State Building in fiction American drama films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films