Good idea to do a screwball murder mystery featuring Babs and her 7 idle rich gal pals but the execution is less than scintillating. Biggest downer was Philip "Where are you when I need you, Julius?" Epstein's dialogue which never once encroaches on Hilarity territory while spending way too much time in the land of the bland smile with occasional forays to chuckleville. And Fonda is just not comfortable with lighter fare. You see it in his eyes and manner, the dramatic actor, chained, just waiting for his next Ford, Lang or Lumet film to come along so he can ditch this inconsequential stuff. Yeah, I know he was good in "Lady Eve". All the more evidence of Sturges' comic genius, not Hank's. C plus.
Review of The Mad Miss Manton
