The Talk of the Town
In the 1940s, Hollywood experienced a trend towards the more politicized movies. Films like How Green Was My Valley and The Grapes of Wrath featured political and social themes that generally went untouched by major studios or directors. One of the films that factored heavily in the trend towards more “important” storylines was George Stevens’ The Talk of the Town.
A muddled, uneven and somewhat bizarre picture, The Talk of the Town was somehow nominated for seven Academy Awards including Best Picture. It was also the first of three films that Stevens made with star Cary Grant and it attempted to showcase Grant’s range with a strange blend of comedy, romance, political commentary, drama and action. As such, the movie is hard to follow and feels stuffy and bland.
The Talk of the Town certainly attempts to be a vehicle for Grant in many ways. He stars as political activist Leonard Dilg and he’s been accused of burning down a mill and causing the death of someone in the blaze. Of course, the mere fact that his name is “Dilg” leaves a lot to be desired in subsequent scenes involving his co-stars, but that’s beyond the point. Dilg escapes from jail and ends up crashing at a house owned by friend Nora Shelley (Jean Arthur).
To complicate matters, Shelley has decided to rent the house out to Professor Michael Lightcap (Ronald Colman). Unbeknownst to Colman, he has the fugitive Dilg living in his attic and can’t seem to get rid of Shelley who is attempting to conceal the presence and identity of Dilg. Dilg eventually meets Colman, but the professor believes him to be the gardener. The two develop a friendship which is further complicated when the professor discovers his true identity.
The movie makes much of the varying political views of Dilg and Lightcap, attempting to express the notion that these two can be friends even with such disparate views. The problem with this theory is that the two viewpoints are not actually all that different, with Dilg only taking a more emotional approach to the law and Lightcap being a bit of a stickler. Both wind up believing that the law ought to be applied consistently, however, and it becomes less about politics and more about friendship.
While this grinding down of political elements into their most human elements is admirable, Stevens never really finds the right tone for his picture. As a result, the thoughts get muddled and the performances wind up racing around between slapstick comedy, screwball comedy, political drama, romance, and even thrilling adventure and chase sequences. It’s all a bit much, as Stevens never seems to know what he wants to do.
There are a number of very odd sequences here, too. Take, for instance, the strangely-acted and nonsensical sequence in which Arthur’s character drops an egg on a newspaper bearing the identity of Dilg. She is attempting to conceal it from Lightcap, but the scene is so overdone and the idea so strange that it’s hard to laugh at what should be obvious comedy. Arthur’s racing across from the kitchen while shouting “Noooo” is just weird.
With the peculiar acting and strange structural issues, it’s really hard to get behind The Talk of the Town in any meaningful way. Normally I have a lot of respect for the older pictures, but this one is just flat-out odd. If it were made today, one might imagine it to be a straight-to-DVD affair thanks to its meandering plot, confusing and annoying “love triangle,” and tacked-on “political” conversations. There’s just nothing strong enough here to recommend The Talk of the Town. Even with its star power, it’s a bit of a lame duck.
