The Talk of the Town

The Talk of the Town began life as a script with the working title of Mr. Twilight, a title that is just as poor when describing the film as the one that was eventually chosen. Cary Grant’s insistence on altering the title is the primary reason for the change, but the new title isn’t much better. The Talk of the Town was already registered to Universal Studios at the time, so Columbia Pictures made a deal with them, relinquishing one of their titles in return. Universal got Sin Town, and Columbia got The Talk of the Town. While this title is not the greatest representation of what the film is about, a better one doesn’t come readily to mind, so I will leave it at that.

What this title is about seems more like an excuse to set up a comedy about hiding from the cops, pretending to be someone else, and solving a rather shallow mystery about arson and manslaughter. The plot matters little as the primary focus is to serve the comedy setup, and it does that pretty well. Cary Grant was adept at playing these kinds of parts, and he’s not really stretching to bring this one to life. His screen persona serves to undermine any chance, though, at us ever believing he may be guilty.

The film opens with the burning down of a wool mill. This fire, attributed to arson, also apparently has taken the life of the mill foreman, Clyde Bracken (Tom Tyler). Evidence points to Leopold Dilg (Cary Grant), a mill worker and political activist, and he is arrested, but he insists he is being framed for bringing attention to unsafe conditions in the mill. He escapes prison before his trial and disappears. The police see his escape as further proof of his guilt, and a manhunt ensues. 

Dilg finds his way to a remote cottage owned by his former schoolmate, Nora Shelley (Jean Arthur), a woman he once had a crush on. Shelley, now a schoolteacher, has rented the unoccupied cottage for the summer to distinguished law professor Michael Lightcap (Ronald Coleman), who plans to live there alone so he can have the quiet atmosphere to work on his book. Both Dilg and Lightcap arrive at the same time, forcing her to hide Dilg in the attic. 

Dilg is eventually spotted by Lightcap, so she passes him off as the gardener, and the two men come to enjoy each other’s company, verbally sparring occasionally over the case of Dilg and the mill fire that has become the talk of the town. Lightcap doesn’t believe Dilg is guilty, but also doesn’t see it worth his time to devote much time to going over the evidence, either. When he does figure out the true identity of Dilg, he tries to call the police only to have Dilg knock him out and flee again. Eventually, Lightcap pieces some evidence together and finds definitive proof of who the real culprit is, and there is a climactic showdown in the courts. 

This film does have a well-put-together plot, but it spends too much time playing cute with the comedy as Dilg is hiding out in the attic, and Nora tries to prevent him from being detected. It also muddies up the waters a bit by introducing a love triangle between the three leads, which motivates Lightcap into action, even when it becomes obvious that she prefers Dilg over him. It’s played for laughs, which, while it is funny, undermines the logic of the story at times. 

Early on, it is mentioned that Lightcap may be a candidate for the Supreme Court. He’s also hiding behind his facial hair, using his beard as an excuse not to do anything controversial that may jeopardize his chances of being appointed to that high office. Eventually, he will be compelled to set aside his personal ambitions to do what is right, symbolized by his shaving off the beard. This moment is meant to be uplifting, but it is played over-the-top, juxtaposed with close-ups of his servant, Tilney (Rex Ingram), moved to tears while watching his master shave.

The mystery is a good one, and until things start to get unraveled late in the game, we are never quite sure what really happened. The problem isn’t the mystery itself, but that this aspect of the plot is more of an afterthought, ignored for large parts of the film in favor of hijinks at the cottage. We get the occasional reminder that Dilg is a wanted man, played up for further laughs with moments where we wonder how he’s going to escape detection when the police keep showing up wanting to search the cottage or are led there by their hunting dogs. These moments come peppered in to remind us that there is a plot going on, but there is not a lot of urgency to the story to help keep the tension going. 

This film works as a romantic comedy that also has a crime drama playing out in the background. Unfortunately, it’s tonally all over the place, feeling like a movie that is missing a consistent identity. Both parts of the story work on their own, but when combined together, they don’t fully jive. Still, it’s entertaining enough to be a pleasant diversion, just don’t expect it to feel as a whole. Cary Grant is always a joy to watch, even in his lesser films. Ron Coleman strikes all the right notes as the straight man who takes himself far too seriously. And Jean Arthur is pitch-perfect as the woman pulled between these two men. With all that talent on screen, it’s just a bit of a letdown that it’s in service of a film that struggles too much to find its identity. 

Academy Award Nominations:

Outstanding Motion Picture: George Stevens

Best Writing - Original Motion Picture Story: Sidney Harmon

Best Writing - Screenplay: Irwin Shaw and Sidney Buchman

Best Art Direction - Black-and-White: Lionel Banks, Rudolph Sternad, and Fay Babcock

Best Cinematography - Black-and-White: Ted Tetzlaff

Best Film Editing: Otto Meyer

Best Music - Music Score of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture: Frederick Hollander and Morris Stoloff

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Release Date: August 20, 1942

Running Time: 117 minutes

Not Rated

Starring: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and Ronald Coleman

Directed by: George Stevens