The Mad Miss Manton

Melsa Manton, Barbara Stanwyck takes her two small dogs for a midnight stroll at 3:00 am near a subway construction site, where a hurried Ronnie Belden, William Corson, bursts from a house listed for sale by Sheila Lane, Leona Maricle, and owned by her husband, George Lane. Inside, she discovers a diamond brooch and the dead body of George Lane. As she hurries to summon help, her cloak drops away, concealing the brooch. When the police arrive, the body, cloak, and brooch have vanished, leaving everyone to scramble for explanations.

Melsa and her friends are notorious pranksters, so Lieutenant Mike Brent, Sam Levene, does little to investigate the murder. Peter Ames, Henry Fonda, writes an editorial decrying Melsa’s “prank,” and she sues him for libel. The affair sparks a tense public clash that pulls the lovers and a circle of suspects into a dangerous mystery.

To defend their reputation, Melsa and her friends launch a self-imposed manhunt that spans the Lane house, Belden’s apartment, Lane’s business office, and a string of local beauty shops. The investigation is punctuated by two attempts to intimidate Melsa and two gun-toting assaults on her life—one at a charity ball, and another trap laid for the killer with Melsa as bait. The women even manage to overpower Ames twice and tie him up, though Melsa’s ally Myra Frost, Linda Perry, flirts with him during the danger.

Amid this turmoil, Frances Glesk, Penny Singleton, emerges as the girlfriend of Sheila’s ex-husband, Edward Norris, Stanley Ridges, a former convict who has just finished a ten-year term at Joliet Correctional Center. Frances claims an alibi that she and Eddie were at a hockey game, and that his ten-minute smoke break during intermission wouldn’t allow him to reach the crime scene in time.

As the tension mounts, Mike’s relentless accusations fall on innocent people, and Melsa pieces together that Ronnie Belden moved the body and cloak from the Lane house before the police arrived. A clue—the trail of tar paper left behind by an escaping would-be killer—reminds Melsa of the subway site, leading her back to it. There she discovers a fast electric cart on the tracks, revealing how Norris could travel between the crime site and his alibi in about ten minutes.

Edward Norris confesses to the murders and briefly holds Melsa and Peter hostage at gunpoint before being captured. The pressure of the case also transforms the relationship between Melsa and Peter: what begins with sharp antagonism evolves into mutual respect and growing affection, eventually turning into engagement. Peter decides he will marry Melsa and begins to woo her with a renewed, determined ardor.

After the dramatic rescue by the police, Melsa and Peter look toward a future together, planning a honeymoon as they step into a new chapter of their lives. The story remains a tense, stylish blend of suspense and wit, driven by a determined group of women who refuse to let a deadly mystery erase their reputations or their chance at happiness.

Last Updated: October 09, 2025 at 11:08