Time to kick off the New Year with something I’ll not be able to outdo: the best fur fashion film of all time: The Mad Miss Manton. I was wavering on that opinion because I hadn’t really seen it in a while, but now that I’ve dug through almost every frame with a glistening guard hair in it, I feel I can safely end all doubt. It’s all here, quality, variety, and length. If there’s something better than this, well… I desperately want to see it.


Barbara Stanwyck in a Crystal Fox Fur Coat and Additional Actresses in Fox Furs - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

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The Mad Miss Manton

Genre: Comedy, Mystery & Suspense
Format: Full Screen, NTSC, Black & White


The Mad Miss Manton – The Film

The Mad Miss Manton is somewhat a mix of genres, and perhaps that’s part of the magic that made it what it was. It’s one-half madcap heiress, one-half gentle(wo)man detective, multiplied by 1938, to the seventh power. Starring Miss Barbara Stanwyck (I have the book) as one of Hollywood’s few alliterative miss-fires, Melsa Manton and her flock of seven fashionable friends in a murder mystery. Melsa finds a dead body in the house for sale reports it to the police, but she and her friends’ reputation as pranksters leads the police to do nothing when they arrive to find the body missing. The ladies decide to solve the case to clear their good names, which are being splashed on the paper’s editorial page by Peter Ames (Henry Fonda).

The Mad Miss Manton – The Furs

Where to begin…? Melsa and her friends swim through an ocean of furs in the film, almost all foxes in some form or another. , lynx, and even are ably represented as well. The fur garments come in all forms, from full-length coats to jackets, wraps, and muffs. It’s a virtual catalog of glorious deco fur fashions from the late ’30s.

Enter Melsa Manton. At this point, Miss Manton has found the body, been blown off by the police, and suffered a scathing editorial in the paper about her “prank” written by her opposite in this scene, Peter Ames. She arrives in the film’s first fur, a dress with silver fox cuffs, a rather conservative start.

Barbara Stanwyck in Silver Fox Fur Cuffs - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

Melsa’s girlfriends don’t all appear in furs at once. We start off with… okay, here’s the deal. Melsa has seven members of her little “posse,” and, I checked, 2 of them are never called by name. This is one of them, the process of elimination indicates this is either “Lee” or “Jane.” Judging by what I could find on the net, I’m calling this Ann Evers as Lee, who starts the fox train rolling with a big jacket.

Ann Evers in a Black Fox Fur Stroller - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

She throws a wrap atop Myra (Linda Perry).

Linda Perry with a White Fox Fur Wrap - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

This leads shortly to the girls having donned their first set of sleuthing furs. This is, left to right, Kit in a white fox jacket, Helen in a silver fox wrap, Melsa in her signature crystal fox coat, Lee in the black fox stroller, and Myra holding her white fox wrap. Five large fox coats are on screen at once. I can stop here, right?

Barbara Stanwyck in a Crystal Fox Fur Coat and Additional Actresses in Fox Furs - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

Miss Stanwyck’s crystal fox coat is notable not only because it’s the largest fox in the film and lovingly documented, but from a fashion perspective, the coat is very similar to many white fox coats of the day that I’ve documented in previous updates. The broad shoulders and lack of a collar are instantly familiar, and it would be a few pelts short of Irene Dunne’s famous coat from The Awful Truth if it were white.

Barbara Stanwyck in a Crystal Fox Fur Coat - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

Dora (Catherine O’Quinn) is wearing an ermine jacket that was less visible in the previous group shot. There’s actually another ermine jacket in this shot as well, but Helen and Lee’s fox furs are covering up Pat’s jacket.

Barbara Stanwyck in a Crystal Fox Fur Coat and Additional Actresses in Fox Furs - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

There’s Pat (Whitney Bourne) and her ermine fur jacket as the ladies investigate the abandoned house where Melsa found the body. Pat has a bit of an eating disorder that’s handled with the utmost respect and dignity by the film… or not.

Barbara Stanwyck in a Crystal Fox Fur Coat and Catherine O'Quinn in an Ermine Jacket - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

This part of the film is a bit noir-ish, with the ladies moving in darkness, catching conveniently located shafts of light as they poke around the house in their large fur coats and experience a scare or two.

White Fox Fur Jacket - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

Later the girls continue sleuthing to their prime suspect’s house, allowing for yet another group shot.

Barbara Stanwyck in a Crystal Fox Fur Coat and Additional Actresses in Fox Furs - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

Melsa finds a photo of the deceased wife. She wears a silver fox collared coat that she is apparently rather fond of, as we’ll learn later. Even the still photos have fur in this movie.

Photo of Leona Maricle in Silver Fox - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

They find the body of their prime suspect in the apartment, but efforts to report it to the police are in vain since the police already don’t believe them, so they drop the body off at the newspaper, which eventually leads to their “arrest.” The ladies have changed their sleuthing furs to their much more conservative “being arrested” furs.

Barbara Stanwyck in a Mink Fur Coat and Additional Actresses in Furs - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

Melsa and Helen both have full-length minks, while Dora does put some effort into it with a large fox collar.

Catherine O'Quinn in a Fox Fur Collar - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

Though I’m not quite as big a fan of it as her fox, here’s a nicely framed shot of Barbara Stanwyck in mink, which I’m sure will be appreciated.

Barbara Stanwyck in a Mink Fur Coat - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

Later, Melsa and Helen (Frances Mercer) engage in a little solo adventure away from the rest of the posse. Sadly Melsa’s fox is MIA, but Helen keeps things interesting with her white fox wrap.

Frances Mercer in a White Fox Cape - The Mad Miss Manton 1938

The girls reunite further along in the film with yet another selection of furs; principally notable is Myra’s fox collar and large matching fox muff.

Linda Perry in a Fox Fur Jacket and Muff and Additional Actresses in Furs - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

Dora shows up later with another fox collar.

Catherine O'Quinn in a Fox Fur Collar - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

As does Mr. Ames, who is about to be subdued and restrained by Melsa and her girls, one of many times that happens in this film.

Actresses in Furs - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

Later on the street, the girls are out sleuthing again in this set, with Melsa having added a short fox jacket to her wardrobe, and Pat’s silver fox stole more visible.

Barbara Stanwyck in a Fox Fur Jacket and Additional Actresses in Furs - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

Again a little later, we have another set of furs. Here Kit lays atop a lynx jacket and Helen on a large silver fox muff. Everybody keeping up? There will be a quiz later.

Actresses in Furs - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

Pat gets a bit of a solo scene on the phone with Melsa, wearing what I’ll assume is a black fox coat accessorized nicely with the veiled hat.

Whitney Bourne in Fur - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

Eventually, we arrive at the showcase sequence for Barbara Stanwyck and her large crystal fox , where Mr. Ames pretends to be not long for this world to get Melsa to confess an important piece of evidence.

Barbara Stanwyck in a Crystal Fox Fur Coat - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

Miss Stanwyck and the fox coat are showcased perfectly here. Melsa eventually becomes wise to the ruse, eliciting an expression that does not bode well for Peter Ames.

Barbara Stanwyck in a Crystal Fox Fur Coat - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

She liberally applies a fork to Mr. Ames’s buttocks. Say what you will about the film’s place in cinema history, but it is likely the only time Henry Fonda is stabbed in the butt with a fork.

Barbara Stanwyck in a Crystal Fox Fur Coat - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

That crucial piece of evidence was the location of the original deceased’s wife, Shelia Lane (Leona Maricle), who you’ll remember from the photo earlier, especially since she seems to be wearing the same silver fox collar.

Leona Maricle in a Silver Fox Fur Collar - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

As Melsa has been causing trouble for the killer and already survived attempts on her life, a plan is hatched to draw the killer out. While this plan is hatched, Melsa brings along a large black fox muff, which, sadly, is one of the furs that is not well filmed. The black fox goes great with the outfit, but not with late 30’s camera technology.

Barbara Stanwyck with a Black Fox Fur Muff - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

After dinner with Ames, Melsa takes this silver fox wrap on the 30’s equivalent of a dungeon crawl, heading down into the subway as she puts some of the pieces together and looks for more evidence. This is a long sequence, and she wears the silver fox almost non-stop until the film’s end.

Barbara Stanwyck in a Fox Fur Cape - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

For what it’s worth, this guy did it:

Barbara Stanwyck in a Fox Fur Cape - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

The girls show up one last time in yet another set of furs. Myra has a silver fox collar, Dora, an ermine muff, Helen an ermine jacket, and yet more.

Actresses in Furs - The Mad Miss Manton - 1938

The film ends with a bit of a deus ex machina, with the killer taken out in the lobby by a police sniper and no direct intervention from Melsa, Ames, or any other major character. Seems someone wrote themselves into a corner. Yeah, like I care. No one will remember The Mad Miss Manton as a high point in filmmaking. The film is a stunning collection of fur fashions played out en masse. Whereas most of the films from this period I profile have only one fur on screen at once, this one gives us four or five at once.

Oddly, my biggest beef with the film isn’t anything to do with the furs; it’s with Miss Manton herself, who was a bit of a victim of what seemed to be “alliteration at any cost.” Melsa? What a horrible name. Apologies to anyone named Melsa… you have my sympathies. Mary, Madeline, Meghan, Michelle, so many better options.

Oh, and there were no fur hats. The film could have used some hats.

The onscreen ratio is nothing to sneeze at.  In fact, it’s in the neighborhood of the other heavyweight champion, Forever Lulu.

Fur Runtime: approx 33 minutes
Film Runtime: 80 minutes
On-Screen Fur Ratio: 41%

In honor of the occasion, this gallery is much larger than usual, about 76 total, so enjoy:

11 responses to “Furs on Film – The Mad Miss Manton (1938)”

  1. The Green Fairy Avatar

    I remember watching this film many years ago. After i had actually recovered from seeing so much fur I decided I would watch it again and actually follow the story.

    It is actually a good Screwball film; I remember finding the clip where Melsa finds out that Henry Fonda’s character was not actually ill highly amusing.

  2. Yes, from the rendition of “Home on the Range” to the fork in the tuckus, it was a well executed bit of comedy, with Miss Stanwyck pushing the melodrama for fine comedic effect.

  3. […] the scorecard required to keep track of The Mad Miss Manton, this film is almost all Stanwyck all the time. Lily doesn’t sleep her way to the top to […]

  4. […] Notable Fur Films: Breakfast for Two, Baby Face, Lady of Burlesque, The Mad Miss Manton […]

  5. […] of the most “famous” furs in silver screen history. This is the fur with top billing in a film with a very crowded marquee, perfectly deployed upon the shoulders of the lovely Miss […]

  6. […] love this movie, which one site labels “the best fur fashion film of all time” (http://furglamor.com/2010/01/03/furs-on-film-the-mad-miss-manton/). But it wasn’t an easy shoot; exteriors were shot on the Columbia ranch in Burbank in […]

  7. […] 1970s, The Bitch. It has a couple of things in common with the most greatest fur film of the 1930s, The Mad Miss Manton: lots of furs and a protagonist with a funny name. Something it does not have in common… lots of […]

  8. […] well-groomed husband shows up to sort of save the day. The film’s climax has a bit in common with The Mad Miss Manton, as they both involve the principal bad guy getting offed by a plot irrelevant police […]

  9. […] box office bomb from that most magic of years, 1938, that features what could have been a bit of a Mad Miss Manton moment but misses the mark a bit. Still, a decent selection of good furs here with the good sense […]

  10. […] Since TCM hasn’t run a Thin Man marathon in at least two weeks, we’ll stick with The Lone Wolf.  This Lone Wolf guy knows a lot of women with fine taste in furs, it seems.  This is the first time I’ve reviewed a sequel right after the original.  Now, if they’d just made a series of 20 films about Melsa Manton… […]

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