The Talk of the Town (1942)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

George Stevens

Writers:

Sidney Harmon (story)
Dale Van Every (adaptation)

Release Date:

20 August 1942 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Comedy | Romance | Thriller

Tagline:

Screen comedy so gay... drama so thrilling... love so exciting, it will be the talk of YOUR town!

Plot:

An escaped political prisoner and a stuffy law professor vie for the hand of a spirited schoolteacher.

Plot Keywords:

Law | Gardener | Hide Out | Farmhouse | Political Activist

Awards:

Nominated for 7 Oscars.

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Leopold Dilg - Joseph
Jean Arthur	...	Miss Nora Shelley
Ronald Colman	...	Professor Michael Lightcap
Edgar Buchanan	...	Sam Yates
Glenda Farrell	...	Regina Bush
Charles Dingle	...	Andrew Holmes
Emma Dunn	...	Mrs. Shelley
Rex Ingram	...	Tilney
Leonid Kinskey	...	Jan Pulaski
Tom Tyler	...	Clyde Bracken
Don Beddoe	...	Police Chief

Also Known As:

George Stevens' The Talk of the Town (USA) (complete title)
Mister Twilight (USA) (working title)
The Gentleman Misbehaves (USA) (working title)
Three's a Crowd (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

118 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG (TV rating) | Australia:G | Finland:K-16 | Spain:18 | Sweden:15 | UK:U | USA:Approved

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

According to Columbia publicity materials, Claire Trevor was to play a second female lead. Although she was also in a production cast list, she did not appear in the movie.

Quotes:

Leopold Dilg: Stop saying "Leopold" like that, tenderly. It sounds funny. You can't do it with a name like Leopold.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (2005-12-14)" (2005)

Living Justice

The Talk of the Town puts visiting law professor Ronald Colman in a delicate situation. He's rented a cottage for some peace and quiet before going before a Senate committee dealing with his nomination to the Supreme Court. But things are anything, but peaceful in the town of Lorchester, Massachusetts.

The factory owned by Charles Dingle has burned down, arson is suspected and Cary Grant in an unusual working class role is the suspected arsonist. He's a man of radical opinions in the town so he's a convenient suspect. As the factory was the main employer in the town you can imagine that folks are crying for blood.

Which brings an escaped Cary to that same house that Jean Arthur has rented to Colman.

Though there are some amusing moments to be sure from all three of the stars, I find The Talk of the Town to be more serious than dramatic. Grant challenges Colman to come down out of the ivory tower he's been living in and apply his high minded principles to real life, if not necessarily his case.

When he does Colman does it with a vengeance and it brings down a whole lot of Lorchester's leading citizens.

Though Grant and Arthur are first billed, this film really belongs to Ronald Colman. His character is modeled I believe on a recent Harvard law professor who was also appointed to the Supreme Court, one Felix Frankfurter.

Of course what the impeccable English Ronald Colman playing WASP Michael Lightcap and a Viennese Jew have in common is not obvious at first. But before becoming mentor to a host of New Deal civil servants, Felix Frankfurter was not only a professor of law at Harvard, but concerned himself with a host of social issues. He was for instance, very prominent in the defense of Sacco and Vanzetti whose plight in the twenties is very similar to Cary Grant's. Like Colman's character Lightcap, Frankfurter was also known as a man of impeccable integrity, who even his worst enemies conceded. He could also be a bit too high minded at times and had to be brought to realize in his philosophy of judicial restraint, that the courts are and should be an instrument for progress and social change. His story would make an excellent film itself.

Although I can't see Felix Frankfurter putting the moves on beauty parlor owner Glenda Farrell to learn the truth about the arson. Farrell who graced many a Warner Brothers crime feature in the Thirties has the best of the supporting roles in The Talk of the Town. Also the ever unctuous Charles Dingle is wonderful as the very corrupting influence on the town itself.

Colman's final speech to the mob who are ready to lynch Cary Grant is a masterpiece, one of his best moments on screen. The words ought to be required reading and viewing for those who would dismantle our judicial system out of heated passion of the moment.

As a film that challenges folks to live up to the creed they espouse The Talk of the Town should not be missed.