People Will Talk (1951)

User Rating:

7.4/10   

Director:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz

Writers:

Joseph L. Mankiewicz (writer)
Curt Goetz (play)

Release Date:

29 August 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Romance

Plot:

Dr. Noah Praetorius falls in love with Debra, a student who finds out that she is pregnant by her old boyfriend who recently died in combat.

Plot Keywords:

Foreign Language Adaptation | Secret | Academic Hearing | Pregnancy | Double Bass

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Cary Grant	...	Dr. Noah Praetorius
Jeanne Crain	...	Deborah Higgins
Finlay Currie	...	Shunderson
Hume Cronyn	...	Prof. Rodney Elwell
Walter Slezak	...	Prof. Barker
Sidney Blackmer	...	Arthur Higgins
Basil Ruysdael	...	Dean Lyman Brockwell
Katherine Locke	...	Miss James

Also Known As:

The Dr. Praetorious Story (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:Approved (certificate #15270) | Canada:PG (video rating) | Finland:S | Sweden:15 | UK:A (original rating) | UK:U (video rating) (2005)

Filming Locations:

Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA

Company:

Twentieth Century-Fox Film Corporation

Goofs:

Continuity: At the Higgin's farmhouse: Bella the cook is shown alternately from two different camera angles. From one camera angle we see her with her hands at her sides, yet from the other camera angle, we see her with her hands planted squarely on her hips.

Quotes:

Doctor Noah Praetorius: I consider faith properly injected into a patient as effective in maintaining life as Adrenaline, and a belief in miracles has been the difference between living and dying as often as any surgeon's scalpel.

Movie Connections:

Remake of Frauenarzt Dr. Prätorius (1950)

Soundtrack:

Happy Birthday to You

People Will Talk – A comedy of the serious kind…

When you get one of Hollywood's most powerful producers, Darryl F. Zanuck, working with a screenwriter/director, Joseph L. Mankiewicz, then you know you're in for a film that's a cut above the average.

In this story, Cary Grant is a hugely successful doctor (as Dr Noah Praetorious) with unusual healing practices; Jeanne Crain (as Deborah Higgins) is an aspiring medical student who falls in love with him; the almost legendary Finlay Currie is a mysterious assistant (as Shunderson) to the doctor; another great character actor, Hume Cronyn, plays the devious and deceitful Prof. Elwell; and there is Walter Slezak as Prof. Barker, who provides (with Grant) much of the comedy and witty lines.

This is an unusual story because it mixes genres: it's a comedy, it's a love story, it's a (double) mystery, and it's a drama. The first genre is provided largely by Cary Grant and Walter Slezak who bounce off each other with some of the best scenes and wittiest lines. The second, of course, is between Cary Grant and Jeanne Crain. The third is provided by Cary Grant and Finlay Currie, Grant being the doctor whose methods are suspect and his past under scrutiny by Prof. Elwell, while Currie is Grant's constant companion – aloof, quiet and almost robotic in his demeanour. But, who really is Shunderson? And the fourth is the drama between Dr Praetorious and Prof. Elwell, as the latter seeks to have the doctor expelled from the clinic and university for malpractice.

Weaving those four elements together into a cohesive plot is no mean feat, but Mankiewicz succeeds brilliantly. The acting is superb, and even Jeanne Crain – not one of my favorites at all – manages to almost overshadow Hume Cronyn in a key scene where there is a battle of wills and words. The real surprise, however, is Finlay Currie who usually appears in biblical and/or historical dramas and who usually is given a lot to say in any of his film appearances. But, not in this one: in fact, he says hardly a word until almost the end, but simply maintains a deceptive and mysterious quietude at the side of Cary Grant. The resolution to that mystery is a tour de force – and with a twist.

Even though I'm not a big comedy fan – it's the most difficult to portray on film – I'm very partial to Mankiewicz and his films. On that basis alone I'd recommend this film for you to see as another in the great tradition of Classic Hollywood Cinema. But, for anybody who likes the debonair Cary Grant, well, what are you waiting for…?