Party Wire (1935)

User Rating:

7.0/10   

Director:

Erle C. Kenton

Writers:

Bruce Manning (novel)
Ethel Hill (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

27 April 1935 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

When the daughter of the town's leading citizen and a local dairyman have a romance,and the man makes a sudden-and-unexplained trip out of town...

Plot Keywords:

Gossip | Telephone | Small Town | Aunt | Beautiful Woman

Cast

Jean Arthur	...	Marge Oliver
Victor Jory	...	Matthew Putnam
Helen Lowell	...	Nettie Putnam
Robert Allen	...	Roy Daniels
Charley Grapewin	...	Will Oliver (as Charles Grapewin)
Clara Blandick	...	Mathilda Sherman
Geneva Mitchell	...	Irene Sherman
Maude Eburne	...	Clara West
Matt McHugh	...	Bert West
Oscar Apfel	...	Tom Sherman
Robert Middlemass	...	Judge Steven Stephenson

Runtime:

69 min (TCM print)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Certification:

USA:TV-G (TV rating) | USA:Approved (PCA #743) (original rating)

Company:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Some reviews credited Charles Middleton with the role of "Johnson," but that part was played by Guy Usher.

Soundtrack:

For He's a Jolly Good Fellow

Word Travels Fast

Party Wire concerns a small town. They are linked together by the same telephone line, a party wire. If one does not understand the way older telephones worked, with the total dependence on an operator and a switchboard, this concept is difficult to understand, which dates the film. However, suffice to say that everyone is able to listen in on everyone's phone calls, and others miss their calls often due to gossips tying up the line. In this small town, a visitor arrives, a man who used to live there by the name of Matthew Putname (Victor Jory). He is very wealthy so all of the young ladies of the town try to grab him, but the least interested one (Jean Arthur) happens to catch his eye. Gossips spreads through the town, not all of it true, and several dramatic things happen.

The film is based on a clever idea and contains several amusing sequences, but the main characters have no chemistry with each other and they themselves are lukewarm. It is difficult to care about their struggles if there is no sympathy. The best character plays Arthur's father, Charley Grapewin. He is lovable, funny, and a joy to watch.