The Talk of the Town (1942)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

George Stevens

Writers:

Sidney Harmon (story)
Dale Van Every (adaptation)
(more)

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
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Sam Ash	...	Extra in Supreme Court Audience (uncredited)
Dorothy Babb	...	Schoolgirl Noticing Beard (uncredited)
Georgia Backus	...	Townswoman (uncredited)
Holger Bendixen	...	Townsman (uncredited)
William 'Billy' Benedict	...	Western Union Boy (uncredited)
Ferike Boros	...	Mrs. Pulaski (uncredited)
Al Bridge	...	Desk Sergeant (uncredited)
Lloyd Bridges	...	Donald Forrester (uncredited)
Leslie Brooks	...	Secretary (uncredited)
Eddie Bruce	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Jack Carr	...	Usher (uncredited)
Eddie Coke	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Gino Corrado	...	Nightclub Waiter (uncredited)
Joe Cunningham	...	McGuire (uncredited)
Lew Davis	...	Waiter at Regina's Shop (uncredited)
Ralph Dunn	...	Cop on Stairs (uncredited)
Al Ferguson	...	Detective (uncredited)
Clyde Fillmore	...	Senator James Boyd (uncredited)
Joe Garcia	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Jack Gardner	...	Cameraman with Forrester (uncredited)
Bud Geary	...	Townsman (uncredited)
William Gould	...	Sheriff with Hounds (uncredited)
Jay Guedillio	...	Man (uncredited)
Dave Harper	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Edward Hearn	...	Sergeant (uncredited)
Oscar 'Dutch' Hendrian	...	Mob Member Carrying Rope (uncredited)
George Hickman	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Maynard Holmes	...	Vendor (uncredited)
Dick Jensen	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Robert Keats	...	Man (uncredited)
Stubby Kruger	...	Baseball Player (uncredited)
William Lally	...	Police Sergeant (uncredited)
Eddie Laughton	...	Henry, Photographer (uncredited)
Jack Low	...	Workman (uncredited)
Herman Marks	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Joe McGuinn	...	Jailer Overpowered by Dilg (uncredited)
Patrick McVey	...	First Policeman (uncredited)
Frank Mills	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Clarence Muse	...	Supreme Court Doorkeeper (uncredited)
Frank O'Connor	...	Courtroom Spectator (uncredited)
Blanche Payson	...	Woman (uncredited)
Charles Perry	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Ralph Peters	...	Eddie, Moving Man (uncredited)
Lee Phelps	...	Detective (uncredited)
Lee Prather	...	Sergeant At Arms (uncredited)
Al Rhein	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Dewey Robinson	...	Jake (uncredited)
Cy Schindell	...	Townsman at Ballgame (uncredited)
Dan Seymour	...	Headwaiter at Nightclub (uncredited)
Jack Shea	...	Reporter (uncredited)
Roberta Smith	...	Schoolgirl Noticing Beard (uncredited)
Charles St. George	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Frank Sully	...	Policeman in Station Wagon (uncredited)
Frank M. Thomas	...	Dist. Atty. Scott (uncredited)
Mabel Todd	...	Operator (uncredited)
Victor Travers	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Lelah Tyler	...	Townswoman (uncredited)
John Tyrrell	...	Townsman at Ballgame (uncredited)
Ralph Volkie	...	Townsman (uncredited)
Max Wagner	...	Moving Man (uncredited)
Robert Walker	...	Deputy Sheriff (uncredited)
George Watts	...	Judge Grunstadt (uncredited)
Lee 'Lasses' White	...	Hound Keeper (uncredited)

Directed by
George Stevens

Writing credits
Sidney Harmon		(story)
Dale Van Every		(adaptation)
Irwin Shaw		(writer) &
Sidney Buchman		(writer)

Produced by
Fred Guiol	....	associate producer
George Stevens	....	producer

Original Music by
Friedrich Hollaender		(as Frederick Hollander)

Cinematography by
Ted Tetzlaff		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Otto Meyer

Art Direction by
Lionel Banks

Makeup Department
Rhoda Donaldson	....	hair stylist (uncredited)
Fred B. Phillips	....	makeup artist (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Norman Deming	....	assistant director
Earl Bellamy	....	third assistant director (uncredited)
Bud Brill	....	second assistant director (uncredited)

Art Department
Rudolph Sternad	....	associate art director
Fay Babcock	....	set dresser (uncredited)
Bill Black	....	props (uncredited)
H. Hopkins	....	props (uncredited)
Reggie Smith	....	props (uncredited)

Sound Department
Eldon Coults	....	sound (uncredited)
Lodge Cunningham	....	sound (uncredited)

Stunts
Paul Stader	....	stunt double: Cary Grant (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Fayte M. Browne	....	second camera operator (uncredited)
M.S. Burns	....	gaffer (uncredited)
Joe Citron	....	assistant camera (uncredited)
Walter Meins	....	grip (uncredited)
John Miehle	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Sam Rosen	....	assistant camera (uncredited)

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Irene	....	gowns: Miss Arthur
Thomas S. Dawson	....	wardrobe: men (uncredited)
Gail Ducharme	....	wardrobe: women (uncredited)

Editorial Department
Paul Borofsky	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Morris Stoloff	....	musical director (as M.W. Stoloff)
Daniele Amfitheatrof	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Other crew
Donald W. Starling	....	montage effects (as Donald Starling)
Steve Benton	....	stand-in: Edgar Buchanan (uncredited)
Dorothy Dunn	....	stand-in: Emma Dunn (uncredited)
Mrs. Roy Feldman	....	stand-in: Ferike Boros (uncredited)
Jack Mannick	....	stand-in: Leonid Kinskey (uncredited)
Mal Merrihugh	....	stand-in: Cary Grant (uncredited)
Buddy Roosevelt	....	stand-in: Ronald Colman (uncredited)
Floyd Shackelford	....	stand-in: Rex Ingram (uncredited)
Kay Smith	....	stand-in: Jean Arthur (uncredited)
Ralph Stein	....	stand-in: George Watts (uncredited)
Frances Waverly	....	stand-in: Glenda Farrell (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Columbia Pictures Corporation

Distributors

• Columbia Pictures (1942) (USA) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures Corporation (1942) (UK) (theatrical)
• Columbia Pictures (1949) (USA) (theatrical) (re-release)

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:

This was the first time since the silent era that Ronald Colman was billed below another male lead.

Quotes:

Michael Lightcap: Look at me, a dream of twenty years come true. More happiness than any man deserves, that chair. But now there's something Else, Nora: My friends. I want to see them as happy as I am. Nothing less will do. And Leopold, what a fine fellow - and I've been thinking, Nora, that if someone were to take his hand and say "Leopold, my wreckless friend, here's love and companionship, forever." Well, some day that man would... You see what I mean, Nora?

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Jeopardy!: (#22.68)" (2005)

The Law and Life: Striking a Perfect Balance

Cary Grant has a curious role in this film - he is a labor agitator. He has been stirring up matters in his native town against the local big business factory, owned by Charles Dingle. Then, there is a fire at the factory - an arson fire. Grant is suspected and arrested for the arson (and subsequently for the murder of Tom Tyler, the factory foreman who is missing and presumed dead). Grant manages to escape capture, and heads for the home of one of his oldest friends - Jean Arthur. What he does not realize is that Arthur has rented the house for the summer to a law professor of note, Ronald Colman. Arthur is willing to hide Grant in the attic, but Colman does arrive, only to find that the sheriff and a pack of hounds are at his door (and due to some unexpected clothing switching the hounds chase Colman up a tree).

Starting with this situation, THE TALK OF THE TOWN blossoms into a neat little comedy triangle that tackles the issues of what is law, and what do we expect of it? Colman's Professor Lightcap is a quiet judicial scholar - a man of books. Probably too many books. Later in the film, Grant's Leopold Dilg tells Arthur's Nora Shelley that he's looked at the legal tomes Colman reads (and upon which his judicial philosophy is based) and they are intelligent, comprehensible, "and dead." Colman, in short, is a legal conservative, and so has a tendency to support the status quo. He is also an appointee (awaiting confirmation) to the U.S. Supreme Court. All this is hardly promising for Grant and Arthur, who hope that Colman can assist them in saving Grant from prison or worse. Grant's attempts at getting Colman into the real world is limited by his inability to appear in public (he is a wanted man, after all). But Arthur, and Grant's attorney Edgar Buchanan, are capable to take Colman around the town and make him realize that Grant has not been given a fair chance to defend himself.

The film concentrates on Colman's slowly becoming a realist - seeing that the opinions of one hundred years of precedents are not the be all or end all of justice. It begins when he meets Dingle, and then the trial judge (who seems all too prejudiced against Grant before the trial - not to mention too chummy with the owner of the factory). As he comes down to earth, he even strips himself of his badge of ivory tower-ism - his beard, which he shaves off (much to the distress of his valet, played by a subdued but funny Rex Ingram).

I leave it to the viewers to see how Colman eventually does get Grant out of his legal difficulties. The movie is one of the few (up to that date in the 1940s) that looked at the legal system critically. The massive dislike of the townspeople towards Grant (where they all have been financially hurt by the factory fire they blame on him) makes a fair trial in that town impossible. It reminds us of the issue nowadays about media coverage of crimes where local jury pools get tainted by prejudgments of defendants thrust down their throats. Yet Colman is warned by his political friends to avoid involvement - to keep himself clean before he is confirmed. You wonder what is the value of a seat on the Supreme Court if the would-be judge cannot make sure that justice is even handed and as near pure as possible.

To me TALK OF THE TOWN may not be a great film but it is above average, and an unusual one for both male leads - for Grant in his character's personality, and for Colman for his gradual concentration less on his rivalry with Grant over Arthur as with the battle for justice. Before TWELVE ANGRY MEN came out over a decade later, TALK OF THE TOWN was the best movie about the philosophy and reality of the law (except for THE OX-BOW INCIDENT) Hollywood produced.