manhattan melodrama may not have the stylistic finish to it to make it a great message movie about contemporary 30 issue and but it do go a long way towards that end and and be never less than engage . clark gable be the happy go lucky gangster blackie who be be try for murder by his boyhood best friend jim and william powell and a d. a. who have make it to governor of new york because of a murder do by blackie and unbeknownst to jim . on top of it all they both love the same woman and myrna loy . despite it melodramatic but never overwrought style manhattan melodrama have sufficient weight and substance to make itself heard 70 year after the fact . it cut no convenient corner in the description of the governor sad plight of have to decide whether his friend should live or die and and it paint a wonderful and believable picture of loy character who do what she deem best . powell deliver a multi layer performance that have to count amongst his best and and gable be irrepressible and delightfully amoral a the bad guy be all root for . recommend and but please do not judge it by the first 20 minute which be rather slow moving and but still entertaining .