The Talk of the Town (1942)

An escaped prisoner and a stuffy law professor vie for the hand of a spirited schoolteacher.

Director:

George Stevens

Writers:

Irwin Shaw (screenplay), Sidney Buchman (screenplay),

Stars:

Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald Colman

Nominated for 7 Oscars.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Cary Grant	...	Leopold Dilg - Joseph
Jean Arthur	...	Miss Nora Shelley
Ronald Colman	...	Professor Michael Lightcap
Edgar Buchanan	...	Sam Yates
Glenda Farrell	...	Regina Bush
Charles Dingle	...	Andrew Holmes
Emma Dunn	...	Mrs. Shelley
Rex Ingram	...	Tilney
Leonid Kinskey	...	Jan Pulaski
Tom Tyler	...	Clyde Bracken
Don Beddoe	...	Police Chief

Storyline

In suburban Lochester, New England, three people end up living together in high school teacher Nora Shelley's rental house. The first is her new tenant, renowned Harvard law professor Michael Lightcap, who has rented the house for the summer while he writes his new book. The second is Nora herself. Despite having an auspicious first meeting, Lightcap hires Nora to be his live-in cook and secretary for a week until his manservant Tilney arrives. The third is Joseph, the property's gardener, who is currently laid up with a sprained ankle. In reality, Joseph is Nora's childhood friend Leopold Dilg, who has just escaped from prison. Leopold was being tried for the arson of the factory where he worked, and for murder for the death of the factory foreman Clyde Bracken, whose body was never recovered but who is assumed to have died in the fire. Despite the danger to herself, Nora hides Leopold since she believes his story that although he, as an activist, did speak out about the dangerous ...

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Plot Keywords:

law | factory | gardener | hide out | lawyer | 

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Taglines:

Screen comedy so gay... drama so thrilling... love so exciting, it will be the talk of YOUR town!

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Genres:

Comedy | Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

20 August 1942 (USA)

Also Known As:

George Stevens' The Talk of the Town

Company Credits

Production Co:

Columbia Pictures Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

118 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A radio theatre presentation of The Talk of the Town was broadcast on CBS radio on the Lux Radio Theatre on 5/17/1943; with Cary Grant, Ronald Colman and Jean Arthur recreating their roles from the movie. It's a 60 minute adaptation of the movie.

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Goofs

After Nora forcibly invites the policeman at the roadblock into her front seat, he takes out and lights a cigarette. One second later the cigarette is gone.

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Quotes

Leopold Dilg: Well, it's a form of self-expression. Some people write books. Some people write music. I make speeches on street corners.

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Connections

Featured in The Lady with the Torch (1999)

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Soundtracks

"High Pressure And Love"
(uncredited)
Music by Werner R. Heymann

User Reviews

This is a good movie

Talk of the Town is a good movie! It is well written with witty and interesting, sometimes even surprising dialogue. It is well directed and well played. Even the score is really good (I am not sure if both John Williams and Frederick Hollander borrowed or it was just Williams who borrowed form Hollander for Star Wars). I grew fond of Roland Coleman through this movie, he is simply debonair. Sure, the preaching toward the end of the movie is a bit thick, but it is in character… and should you listen closely you would find that the message is as relevant today as then. And about the love triangle plot… It keeps you guessing till the last moment (only one other movie successfully does the same: Casablanca). Talk of the Town is an intelligent and endearing mix of comedy and drama, it does not use comedy only for the introduction but keeps it up, in parallel to the drama, well through the movie; in that it is remarkable. To say the least it did not deserve to be forgotten, for it does what movies do best: give you a good time.