Over 13 years and six movies, William Powell and Myrna Loy became known as Nick and Nora Charles from the Thin Man series. They worked together on multiple other films as well, and 1934’s Manhattan Melodrama nudged out the first Thin Man as their initial collaboration.

Lifelong pals Jim Wade (Powell) and Blackie Gallagher (Clark Gable) take different paths in adulthood. Jim becomes a district attorney who aspires to political success, while Blackie works with a criminal organization.

Despite these differences, the men remain close - so close that even when Jim marries Blackie’s girlfriend Eleanor (Loy), he harbors no ill will. However, when Blackie murders Jim’s political rival (Thomas E. Jackson), the DA must face a choice between the law and friendship.

In addition to the fact Melodrama became the first on-screen pairing of Loy and Powell, it gets notable consideration for other reasons. It also turned into the only time Powell and Gable worked together, though Gable and Loy would pair three more times.

Infamous gangster John Dillinger also connects to Melodrama. After he took in a screening of the film, the FBI confronted and killed him.

Beyond all these historical domains, does Manhattan hold up as a film 92 years after its release?

Sort of. While not a great movie, Manhattan comes with entertainment value.

The story of Manhattan lives up – or down – to the other part of its title. With its tale of orphaned urchins who take opposite approaches to adult life and who love the same woman, the film certainly comes with ample room for overwrought melodrama.

Director WS Van Dyke largely avoids those pitfalls. He tells the story in a fairly matter of fact manner that adds to its impact.

The actors do their part as well, especially in terms of Powell’s performance. Gable remains charismatic but Blackie doesn’t offer an especially deep role, and as Eleanor, Loy doesn’t get a lot to do other than exist as a symbol.

Of the three leads, Jim comes with the only real arc, and Powell carries it exceedingly well. He results all temptations to ham it up and offers a moving and powerful turn.

The semi-trite nature of the plot holds back Manhattan and keeps it from turning into anything really good. However, the understated direction and terrific acting from Powell give it a boost.

Manhattan Melodrama appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this Blu-ray Disc. Given the film’s advanced age, it came with anomalies, but it largely satisfied.

Sharpness usually fared well. A few shots came across as a little ill-defined, and I can’t claim the movie exhibits especially precise delineation on a consistent basis.

Nonetheless, the image stayed mostly distinctive and concise. I saw no problems with jagged edges or shimmering, and edge haloes remained absent.

Grain seemed fairly natural. The film lacked obvious print flaws.

Blacks seemed deep and dense, and low-light scenes demonstrated positive clarity. Overall, the image held up well over the years.

As for the DTS-HD monaural soundtrack of Manhattan, it never stood out as great, but it seemed more than acceptable when I considered its age. <

Speech occasionally showed some edginess. However, those moments occurred infrequently, and the lines always remained intelligible.

Effects remained well within the realm of acceptability for their age and only showed minor distortion. Music lacked much dynamic range and the score heard during the opening credits sounded shrill.

However, those elements fared better through the movie proper, although the score remained metallic. Nothing here excelled but the track worked fine for something from 92 years ago.

As we shift to extras, we get a September 9, 1940 Lux Ratio Theater Broadcast adaptation of Manhattan Melodrama. It runs 58 minutes, 48 seconds and brings back William Powell and Myrna Loy to reprise their film roles, with Don Ameche as a substitute for Gable.

More than many films, Manhattan loses a lot of impact without its visuals. Since they only rely on their voices, the actors tend to overplay their parts so we lose the subtlety of the movie.

In particular, this impacts Powell. Much of his appeal in the cinematic version comes from the manner in which he conveys his emotions related to Jim's relationship with Blackie, and that goes bye-bye in the radio adaptation.

In addition, without Gable's roguish charm, Blackie seems more like a jerk. Ameche feels miscast, as he lacks Gable's charisma.

Ameche also sounds so much like Powell that their shared scenes can create confusion. The broadcast adaptation becomes a good addition thanks to its archival value, but it doesn't really work on its own.

Along with the movie’s trailer, we find two vintage shorts from 1934. We get The Big Idea (19:13) and Roast Beef and Movies (16:15).

Idea stars Ted Healy and “His Three Stooges” in a story where a man (Healy) tries to come up with story ideas but gets interrupted by the Stooges and others. It seems tedious and exists mainly as an excuse for different scenarios.

Beef offers a similar plot in which three schemers try to sell movie concepts to a studio. While more entertaining than Idea, it still doesn’t go much of anywhere.

It merits notice simply because it offers a Stooge alone. Billed as “Jerry Howard” – closer to his real name of “Curly Horwitz”- we get a rare glimpse of a single Stooge without the other two.

Thanks to a fine cast, Manhattan Melodrama becomes a perfectly watchable effort. The movie never really excels, but the actors keep us with it. The Blu-ray comes with generally positive picture and audio as well as a smattering of supplements. Watch it for its stars.