Two Men in Manhattan

1959 ‘Deux hommes dans Manhattan’ Directed by Jean-Pierre Melville

Two French journalists become embroiled in a criminal plot in New York City involving a disappeared United Nations diplomat.

Jean-Pierre Melville Pierre Grasset Christiane Eudes Ginger Hall Jean Darcante Paula Dehelly Colette Fleury Monique Hennessy Billy Kearns Jean-Pierre Darras Jean Lara Michèle Bailly Glenda Leigh Nancy Delorme Carole Sands Gloria Kayser Barbara Hall Monica Ford Billy Beck Deya Kent

Alternative Title

Zwei Männer in Manhattan

crime drama thriller

84 mins More details at IMDb TMDb Report this film

Popular reviews

Review by Shea Gallagher ★★½ 5

Proof that you can take the limpest, blandest noir, put a little jazz over the top of it and make it somewhat entertaining. It's a pleasant enough watch but overall forgettable.
The cool, hangout vibe of a lot of the French New Wave lends itself surprisingly well to film noir - you've got mood over plot, disillusioned protagonists moping around from one sleazy bar to the next, trying to find a lead and coming up short etc. The problem here isn't that the film barely gives a shit about its plot (which is itself so low-stakes and inconsequential that you can't blame it), but that it really picks up in the few moments it does actually give the plot some…
Review by I.V. ★★★½ 4

"Overlooked gem" is kind a of a silly phrase, but it applies here.
Glad it's finally getting a US release. Jonathan Rosenbaum and I will be recording a conversation about the film for the DVD. Rewatched in preparation.
Review by Hutch ★★½

Jean-Pierre Melville’s Two Men in Manhattan bears the makings of his style: the moody noir photography; the serious men in coats; the good use of jazz music; and the willingness to let things unspool at their own pace. The problem is, the film has a dull scenario at its centre, with dull characters at its edges.
The film follows a low stakes journalistic investigation into the disappearance of the French ambassador to the United Nations. But it seems more like an excuse to get out and about in the streets of New York and visit lots of beautiful women. I had little interest in the characters, and the acting does them no favours. Melville himself takes the lead role, and he’s okay, but fairly bland. But some of the acting in the supporting roles is appalling, to the point of unintentional comedy.
At its best, I enjoyed its loose, moody charm. At its worst, I found it dull and tedious.
Review by FernandoFCroce 1

Jean-Pierre Melville in New York City like Hemingway in Paris, the dreaming visitor’s besotted serenity. It begins in the galaxy of phosphorescence and hot jazz that is Times Square at night, then a brief Keatsian note, an ode to the gaslight post in front of the United Nations edifice. A missing Gallic delegate is the linchpin of the drama, a diplomatic matter or perhaps a scandalous affair. The tenacious newshound (Melville) is on the case, by his side is the mercenary shutterbug (Pierre Grasset): "With a drink or a camera in hand, I feel like a man. Take them away, and it’s only me." The tour of the city is a tour of mistresses, each more strikingly doleful than the…
Review by Joshua Dysart ★★★★

Capturing the ethical and tonal air of noir and crafting a love letter to New York City takes precedence over filmic construction, casting (some of the acting is atrocious), and story structure, but the fast, loose, low-budget approach gives it a New Wave vibe that still feels fresh.
Hayer’s cinematography, particularly the exterior shots of Manhattan, turns the film into a living work, an authentic document of an actual place in time. These exterior shots are done in wides, often held for too long, suggesting that Melville’s gaze is reluctant to get back to artifice.
The music drops can be heavy handed and redundant, but there’s some great jazz here, and the last reel uses the music incredibly effectively, helping…
Review by Mr. DuLac ★★★½ 2

Hardly Jean-Pierre Melville's best film, or even best noir, but that has no reflection on how entertaining or how much fun this film is. It's odd to say a film noir is fun, but I don't now how else to describe watching Melville himself running around Manhattan trying to solve the case of the missing French delegate by tracking down what seems like an endless list of attractive women.
I had no idea that Melville had actually starred in a film until now. I thought he had only done small bit parts and cameos. Now I won't pretend he's the greatest actor ever, but I don't know, I just found it incredibly entertaining seeing the man himself star in one…
Review by russman ★★★

"Taxi. Green-itch Village please."
Review by Filipe Furtado ★★★½

A French man dreams Manhattan night. All about those bits of location shooting, or better put about Melville negotiation his attraction for American fiction and culture in a way less mediated and (but mayben even more) imagined than in his French set films. No wonder he cast himself in it. The long night comes with its share of possibilities, counter fictionsm long mempories of other stories, but Melville on point of view remains focused in what interest him on them.
Review by Channing Pomeroy ★★★½

In Godard’s Breathless (1960), Jean-Pierre Melville plays a celebrity writer who’s asked, “What is your ambition?” He answers with an almost a meta-wink to camera, “To become immortal, and then to die.” Melville would go on to become immortal behind the camera, but not in front of it. I wish he’d known this in 1959 and given the lead role in Two Men in Manhattan to another actor. If he had, it might have been a classic.
Melville and another man take to Manhattan riffing on private eye noir tropes by transferring them to journalists. The film gives Melville a chance to blend his two favorite obsessions: American Noir and the French Resistance
“History is no longer written but photographed.”…
Review by matt lynch ★★★★

sort of Melville's INTO THE NIGHT?
Review by Harry Gay ★★★½

Watched on MUBI
My fourth Melville! Sleazy photojournalist Noir in the same vein as Nightcrawler, although I wouldn't say it reaches the same heights, but they both explore themes of the image, the truth, and the morality of journalism. Melville playfully endulges in the archetypes of American Noir that he seemed to have fallen in love with given his pension for dark shadows, moody underworlds and morally putrified characters. Here is no exception, as you basically don't like anyone. You only tolerate one of two of the main guys, the one who just so happens to be the director himself, but that doesn't mean this is a vanity project as he is far from perfect. This is just a fun sleazy ritzy film where Parisians drive and walk around New York casually making deals and sneaking into the backs of nightclubs to get the latest scoop.
Review by Henri ★★★½

This Melville's take on a B-film noir was mostly a nice surprise! Nothing particularly life-changing plotwise and the female characters felt a bit like cardboard cut-outs, yet it had really stylish urban location work, and oozed of slick and seamy atmosphere that I found hard not to be immersed in. God how incredibly tired Melville looks throughout.

Recent reviews

Review by Filipe Furtado ★★★½

A French man dreams Manhattan night. All about those bits of location shooting, or better put about Melville negotiation his attraction for American fiction and culture in a way less mediated and (but mayben even more) imagined than in his French set films. No wonder he cast himself in it. The long night comes with its share of possibilities, counter fictionsm long mempories of other stories, but Melville on point of view remains focused in what interest him on them.
Review by Donald Laitinen ★★★

A French UN delegate has disappeared into thin air, sending reporter Moreau (Jean-Pierre Melville) and hard-drinking photographer Delmas (Pierre Grasset) on an assignment to find him. Their only lead is a picture of three women.
On the back of this Blu-Ray, Quentin Tarantino is quoted as saying Jean-Pierre Melville is to the crime film what Sergio Leone is to the western, which I think is a very apt comparison. This definitely isn’t one of his best films (I went on a big Melville kick in 2019 and watched most of his more classic films then), but it’s still fun to watch Moreau and Delmas drive Manhattan at night, delving into the city’s nightlife while tracking down the three women, who are…
Review by PODuff ★★★½

Two frenchmen walk into a bar . . . over and over and over again. Not Melville's best, but it's fun to see him play one of the titular men.
Review by loser38 ★★★½

A little bit all over the place but with the setting and characters Melville was still able to do some cool stuff, just not his best from a story standpoint
Review by slard bigmoney ★★★★

Monsieur les scruples
Review by SteveSmithAB ★★★★

Jazz, alcohol, unscrupulous journalists and and 1950s New York. What more could you possibly want?
Review by nenad1 ★★★

Two French Men in New York!
The simple plot is elevated by great photography, some nice acting from Pierre Grasset, and cool jazz music. Ultimately, it's a rather forgettable fare with little to recommend its existence. And I definitely do not want to hear Jean Pierre Melville talking in English anymore.
Not a good place to start with Melville.
Review by Ivanm05 ★★★½

*Spoilers*
What Worked: the simplicity of the plot. A reporter sent to search manhattan for a missing french diplomat. The mystery behind the disappearance of the diplomat which the two men unravel through the course of the night. Also really liked then constricted time of the story.. One night. Everything unravels in one night.
Review by Seconds23 ★★★½

Noirvember #19
Review by Alice ★★★

A beautiful hommage to the American film noir but the story remains very simple and the acting is hardly convincing. I really liked the music though
Review by CarriePage ★★

Great music. Definitely noir
Review by Rifat siddique Pial ★★★★

i never seen such real portrait of city or the photography in a noir movie like this. it's more like Documentary but resists to be one. Jean Pierre Melville sumptuously approach his version of noir which certainly different from American noir treatment. it's obvious location shoot one of reason you gonna like it when you watch.