The Mad Miss Manton (1938)

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Barbara Stanwyck stars in this murder mystery romp about a socialite who enlists her girlfriends to help her find a dead body she discovered, but which went missing before the police arrived at her calling. The police think she’s a prankster, and Henry Fonda’s newspaper reporter character only makes matters worse by publishing the play-by-play. Before long, Stanwyck and Fonda start to fall in love — all while the body count rises and the murderer remains at large.

The Mad Miss Manton is at its best when the group of women are breaking into apartments, searching for clues, restraining Fonda, and accidentally stumbling upon bodies. Hattie McDaniel (Gone with the Wind) is also a scene-stealer as Stanwyck’s straight-talking maid. The Fonda/Stanwyck love relationship is too contrived, though, and the movie loses most of its fun spirit after the mid-point, when Stanwyck begins zeroing in on the killer and an anti-climactic ending. With Stan Levene and Frances Mercer.