Director: George Stevens
Distributor: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Top Billed Actors: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald Colman
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 7 more:
Outstanding Motion Picture - Columbia
Best Screenplay - Sidney Buchman and Irwin Shaw
Best Original Motion Picture Story - Sidney Harmon
Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture - Frederick Hollander and Morris Stoloff
Best Art Direction - Interior Decoration, Black-and-White - Art Direction: Lionel Banks and Rudolph Sternad; Interior Decoration: Fay Babcock
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Ted Tetzlaff
Best Film Editing - Otto Meyer
Plot: Local rabble-rouser and fugitive hides in a woman's home who she has just leased to a law professor from out of town. They eat, they have discourse about the law, they eat some more, and they both adapt to a new perspective.
Distributor: Columbia Pictures Corporation
Top Billed Actors: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald Colman
Won 0 Oscars
Nominated for 7 more:
Outstanding Motion Picture - Columbia
Best Screenplay - Sidney Buchman and Irwin Shaw
Best Original Motion Picture Story - Sidney Harmon
Best Scoring of a Dramatic or Comedy Picture - Frederick Hollander and Morris Stoloff
Best Art Direction - Interior Decoration, Black-and-White - Art Direction: Lionel Banks and Rudolph Sternad; Interior Decoration: Fay Babcock
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White - Ted Tetzlaff
Best Film Editing - Otto Meyer
Plot: Local rabble-rouser and fugitive hides in a woman's home who she has just leased to a law professor from out of town. They eat, they have discourse about the law, they eat some more, and they both adapt to a new perspective.
It's been a while since we've seen director George Stevens and actor Ronald Colman in the Project, but The Talk of the Town (1942) re-introduces them alongside a newer Best Picture mainstay, Cary Grant. This is Grant's third year in a row starring in a Best Picture nominee. He's also the first leading man to be billed above Ronald Colman since Colman acted in silent films. Having two leading men in a picture was something of a novelty in the early 1940s and it played into the story - which man would get the girl? There were even considerations to film two different endings and let test audiences decide but I do not think that actually happened. Shifting our focus to another pair, that of Stevens and leading actress Jean Arthur, this is their first of three Best Picture nominee collaborations. They both had philosophies involving perfectionism and attention to detail so they worked very well together. Although Arthur had worked on Frank Capra's biggest hits in the 1930s, she has said that Stevens was her favorite director to work with; Stevens returned the favor by stating that Arthur was the finest actress he had directed.
All three of the leads perform wonderfully together. The love triangle doesn't get in the way of the gripping story of Grant being on the lam, but it feels natural. And the relationship doesn't begin and end with the two men and Arthur - the two men together develop a beautiful friendship that turns out to be the crux of the picture. One man believes in the letter of the law, laid out in principle without frivolous emotions involved. The other believes in a more practical application of the law, especially since he is on the chopping block for a crime he did not commit. They both have their say in the matter and it's rewarding to see two men who disagree yet come to respect the other's stance, and then develop their own point of view on the matter. If only political or philosophical discussion took place like this more often. Oh well, it's the movies. A few other favorable characteristics of the film is the light tone maintained through Grant's carefree demeanor (which is admittedly perplexing but it makes it an overall fun flick), the opening montage that sets up the inciting events that takes Grant into the house, and the fantastic cinematography that effectively utilizes close-ups and fun staging during the many times these three people sit around the table eating. This picture looks great and is edited vivaciously.
The only strike against this film is the balance of the tone - that nonchalant attitude by Grant does inject levity, but there are moments that become serious and the overall vibe of the movie wavers between laughs and deep thoughts. I also didn't care for the ending. Colman's big moment could have come in the courthouse but that sequence is very brief and we get the tag ending that overstays its welcome. Also, a more ambiguous ending that doesn't answer the first question I posed in the opening paragraph would have served the movie well. By the end of the story, we know who gets the girl and that might set off people who may have taken sides throughout the legal debates.
Overall, a sharply written script featuring three leads that never outshine another takes us into a riveting fugitive story that also provides enriching discussion on the principles and practicalities of the law. The balance of lighthearted and heavy dramatic moments sometimes teeters, but the picture succeeds at providing laughs and developing characters.
My Score: 8/10
All three of the leads perform wonderfully together. The love triangle doesn't get in the way of the gripping story of Grant being on the lam, but it feels natural. And the relationship doesn't begin and end with the two men and Arthur - the two men together develop a beautiful friendship that turns out to be the crux of the picture. One man believes in the letter of the law, laid out in principle without frivolous emotions involved. The other believes in a more practical application of the law, especially since he is on the chopping block for a crime he did not commit. They both have their say in the matter and it's rewarding to see two men who disagree yet come to respect the other's stance, and then develop their own point of view on the matter. If only political or philosophical discussion took place like this more often. Oh well, it's the movies. A few other favorable characteristics of the film is the light tone maintained through Grant's carefree demeanor (which is admittedly perplexing but it makes it an overall fun flick), the opening montage that sets up the inciting events that takes Grant into the house, and the fantastic cinematography that effectively utilizes close-ups and fun staging during the many times these three people sit around the table eating. This picture looks great and is edited vivaciously.
The only strike against this film is the balance of the tone - that nonchalant attitude by Grant does inject levity, but there are moments that become serious and the overall vibe of the movie wavers between laughs and deep thoughts. I also didn't care for the ending. Colman's big moment could have come in the courthouse but that sequence is very brief and we get the tag ending that overstays its welcome. Also, a more ambiguous ending that doesn't answer the first question I posed in the opening paragraph would have served the movie well. By the end of the story, we know who gets the girl and that might set off people who may have taken sides throughout the legal debates.
Overall, a sharply written script featuring three leads that never outshine another takes us into a riveting fugitive story that also provides enriching discussion on the principles and practicalities of the law. The balance of lighthearted and heavy dramatic moments sometimes teeters, but the picture succeeds at providing laughs and developing characters.
My Score: 8/10