Zeus

The Mad Miss Manton (1938)

• Director
  • Leigh Jason
• Writers
  • Philip G. Epstein(screen play)
  • Wilson Collison(story)
  • Fred F. Finklehoffe(contributing writer)
• Stars
  • Barbara Stanwyck
  • Henry Fonda
  • Sam Levene

  Wealthy socialite Melsa Manton (Barbara Stanwyck) is taking her pooches for a walk in the dead of the night when she stumbles upon a dead body and a car fleeing the scene of the crime. She alerts the police but the corpse has disappeared by the time they arrive, and the lieutenant, knowing of her madcap reputation, believes she was playing a practical joke. After newspaper editor Peter Ames (Henry Fonda) takes her to task in print, she sues him for libel and enlists the aid of her society friends in tracking down the body and finding the killer. Eventually, Ames comes around to believing Melsa's story and aids her in her search. It isn't long before the two antagonists find they're attracted to each other -- but they have to catch the murderer before they can settle down and live happily ever after. Fonda and Stanwyck would team up again in You Belong to Me and The Lady Eve.