Young Man of Manhattan (1930)

Ginger Rogers (yes, that’s her, before she became a ‘bottle blonde’), appearing in her third movie, as “Puff Randolph”, and Norman Foster, the director and actor, also appearing here as an actor in his third movie, as “Toby McLean”, in Monta Bell’s Pre-Code musical comedy movie for Paramount Pictures, ‘Young Man of Manhattan’ (1930), also starring, as the female lead, Claudette Colbert, appearing in her second movie, as “Ann Vaughn”.

Also starring in the movie, in supporting roles, are the renowned comic character actor, Charles Ruggles, as “Shorty Ross”, and the British silent film actor Leslie Austin, in his final movie appearance, as “Dwight Knowles”. The movie also featured Lorraine, Fern, Harriet, and Aileene Aalbu as “The Sherman Sisters”, and archive movie footage of the renowned boxers Jack Dempsey and Gene Tunney was incorporated into the movie.

Adapted from the story ‘Young Man of Manhattan’ by Katherine Brush, the movie was situated and filmed in New York City. Both Ginger Rogers and Claudette would become major Hollywood movie stars within just a few years of making this movie, and Norman Foster would go on to become a prominent Hollywood director, notably for ‘Charlie Chan’ and Disney movies, and Orson Welles projects.

Ginger Rogers would later become most famous for performing in RKO Radio Pictures musicals in the 1930’s, most often paired with Fred Astaire, and she would also go on to win the Academy Award for Best actress for her starring role in Sam Wood’s movie drama adaptation of Christopher Morley’s 1939 novel, ‘Kitty Foyle’ (1939), for RKO Radio Pictures, also starring Dennis Morgan, James Craig, and Gladys Cooper. Remembering Ginger Rogers, (16th July, 1911 - 25th April, 1995).