The Mad Miss Manton Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		4.0
Video		4.5
Audio		4.5
Extras		1.5
Overall		4.0

The Mad Miss Manton Blu-ray Movie Review

Murder can be fun!

Reviewed by Randy Miller III November 17, 2025

A buoyant comedy-mystery directed by electrician-turned-screenwriter Leigh Jason, The Mad Miss Manton is elevated by an ultra light tone, infectious energy, and a brisk pace that wraps things up long before its welcome wears out. The irreplaceable Barbara Stanwyck stars in the titular role as a socialite who discovers a murder scene while walking her dogs in the dead of night... but she and her loquacious inner circle are known for pranks and shenanigans, so getting the police to believe her is the real problem. The first of Stanwyck's three pairings with relative newcomer Henry Fonda (fresh off of Jezebel and one year away from Young Mr. Lincoln and The Grapes of Wrath), The Mad Miss Manton is a rare example of 100 minutes of story somehow neatly crammed into a tight, 80-minute package.

While out dog-walking at 3:00 am, Melsa Manton (Stanwyck) spies Ronnie Belden (William Corson) leaving the newly-listed former home of Sheila and George Lane, adjacent to a subway entrance closed for construction. Investigating the house after leaving her dogs outside, Melsa finds a diamond brooch... as well as George's dead body, covered in blood. Fleeing the scene and losing her coat in the process, she calls the police for help. Led by wisecracking lieutenant Mike Brent (Sam Levene), the officers return to the Lane house but find no trace of the coat, the brooch, or the body... and thanks to Melsa's status as ringleader of her friends' frequent pranks, the "tall tale" is dismissed. But that's not the worst of it: her reputation is hurt by newspaper editor Peter Ames (Fonda), so she threatens a libel suit.

After gathering her fashionable troops, Melsa decides that the girls -- which include Helen (Frances Mercer, Vivacious Lady), Patricia (Whitney Bourne, Living on Love), Kit (Vicki Lester, Sky Giant), Lee (Ann Evers, Anything For a Thrill), Myra (Linda Perry, They Won't Forget), Jane (Eleanor Hansen, Flaming Frontiers) and Dora (Catherine O'Quinn) -- need to do their own investigation. What follows is an expectedly screwball-style quest for clues that may or may not involve tying up Peter (who's out digging for dirt), finding a second body in a refrigerator, multiple red herrings, a trip beneath the city, the missing brooch, a charity ball hosted by George's widow, safecracking, and much more.

This central murder mystery (which doubles as a race between "The Park Avenue Pranksters" and lieutenant Brent's men) is its own brand of fun, but The Mad Miss Manton also leaves room for a will-they-or-won't-they relationship between Peter and Melsa, which of course is strongly supported by excellent chemistry between Stanwyck and Fonda that undoubtedly pleased audiences who were already fans of the Thin Man series. Their shared scenes -- combined with sharp dialogue, great editing, and strong supporting performances, which include appearances by Paul Guilfoyle (The Seventh Cross), Stanley Ridges (To Be or Not To Be), and the singular Hattie McDaniel (Gone With the Wind) -- help to elevate what might otherwise be a fluffy genre experiment to surprisingly decent heights.

The Mad Miss Manton was one of Warner Archive's early DVD releases back in their first year of production, which means that this welcome new Blu-ray will represent a substantial A/V improvement given their more recent access to original camera negatives previously locked in the studio vaults. Indeed, it's a massive jump in quality thanks to the boutique label's restorative efforts, which will allow long-time fans to see it again for the first time.

The Mad Miss Manton Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Warner Archive again uses their magic touch for this restoration of The Mad Miss Manton, sourced from a recent 4K scan of the original nitrate camera negative which was treated to a round of their proprietary manual cleanup process. Shot by cinematographer Nicholas Musuraca (Out of the Past), it makes use of overwhelmingly proto-noir visuals that give The Mad Miss Manton's more serious moments a proper amount of weight. As such, these shadows and darkness that play a key role in specific scenes are handled nicely, while other moments shot in more favorable light are driven more by fine detail and texture which look even more impressive. It's possible that a secondary source was used when necessary, as implied by a few small drops in detail and contrast, but the wide, wide majority of The Mad Miss Manton looks flawless and far outpaces the boutique label's early DVD from 2009. As usual, it's capably authored on a dual-layered disc and runs at a supportive bit rate from start to finish with no compression-related issues.

The Mad Miss Manton Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

The DTS-HD 2.0 Master Audio track follows suit with a clean, crisp translation of The Mad Miss Manton's original mono mix repurposed as a split two-channel presentation. As usual, only trace amounts of hiss can be heard, which is once again a good sign that extraneous amounts of noise reduction were not applied here, preserving as much of its original dynamic range as possible. The original score by RKO's prolific house composer Roy Webb sounds good too. Overall, no real complaints here -- the only limitations inherent to this mix are likely tied to its original source.

Optional English (SDH) subtitles are included during the main feature only, not the extras listed below.

The Mad Miss Manton Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

This one-disc release ships in a keepcase with vintage poster-themed cover artwork. The extras are mostly new-to-disc and include a pair of remastered cartoon shorts and the original trailer, a rarity for RKO titles.

• Porky the Gob (7:55) - This 1938 Looney Tunes short, co-directed by Ben Hardaway and Cal Dalton, features Porky Pig as a sailor forced to defend his battleship after it's basically abandoned by the crew.

• The Penguin Parade (7:32) - Produced the same year, this Merrie Melodies variety-show short was helmed by Tex Avery and also appeared on WAC's Looney Tunes Collector's Choice: Volume 2 Blu-ray set.

• Theatrical Trailer (2:25) - This fun vintage promotional piece can also be seen here.

The Mad Miss Manton Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Featuring the first on-screen pairing of Barbara Stanwyck and Henry Fonda (who would soon reunite in The Lady Eve and You Belong to Me), Leigh Jason's The Mad Miss Manton is a comedy-mystery that zooms by at just 80 minutes but delivers more "movie" than you'd expect. Fun and entertaining for audiences of most ages, it still plays great for a film soon celebrating its 90th birthday. Warner Archive's Blu-ray, which replaces their own 16 year-old DVD, makes it look a lot younger thanks to a strong restoration that will absolutely thrill long-time fans. Heartily Recommended.