The Talk of the Town

Director: George Stevens

Overview

"George Stevens' The Talk of the Town (1942) is one of the stranger movies to come out of Hollywood during World War II, ranking right up there with The Ox-Bow Incident, even though it's ostensibly a comedy. Actually, it is, but it isn't the kind of comed

Product Details

Release Date:	05/13/2008
UPC:	0043396078093
Original Release:	1942
Rating:	NR
Source:	Sony Pictures
Region Code:	1
Presentation:	[B&W]
Language:	English
Time:	1:58:00
Sales rank:	18,468

Special Features

Closed Caption;Digitally mastered audio and video; Remastered in high definition; Full-screen presentation; English soundtrack; English, French, Japanese, and Korean subtitles; Bonus trailers; Interactive menus; Scene selections

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Cary Grant	Leopold Dilg
Jean Arthur	Nora Shelley
Ronald Colman	Michael Lightcap
Edgar Buchanan	Sam Yates
Glenda Farrell	Regina Bush
Charles Dingle	Andrew Holmes
Emma Dunn	Mrs. Shelley,Sergeant
Rex Ingram	Tilney
Leonid Kinskey	Jan Pulaski
Tom Tyler	Clyde Bracken,Woman
Don Beddoe	Chief of Police
George Watts	Judge Grunstadt
Clyde Fillmore	Sen. James Boyd
Frank M. Thomas	District Attorney
Lloyd Bridges	Forrester
Ralph Peters	Moving Man
Max Wagner	Moving Man
Pat McVey	Cop,Cop
Eddie Laughton	Henry
Billy Benedict	Western Union Boy
Harold Kruger	Ball Player
John Tyrrell	Man
George Hickman	Man
Frank Mills	Man
Bud Geary	Man
Holger Bendixen	Man
Joe Garcia	Man
Jay Guedalia	Man
Dutch Hendrian	Man
Dave Harper	Man
Dick Jensen	Man
Robert Keats	Man
Herman Marks	Man
Charles Perry	Man
Al Rhein	Man
Al Seymour	Man,Headwaiter
Charles St. George	Man
Victor Travers	Man
Ralph Volkie	Man
Maynard Holmes	Vendor
Jack Carr	Usher
Bill Lally	Sergeant
Edward Hearn	Sergeant
Roberta Smith	School Girl
Dorothy Babb	School Girl
Lee Phelps	Detective
Al Ferguson	Detective
Eddie Coke	Reporter
John Shay	Reporter
Eddie Bruce	Reporter
Ferike Boros	Mrs. Pulaski
Jack Gardner	Cameraman
William Gould	Sheriff
Lee 'Lasses' White	Hound Keeper
Joe McGuinn	Jailer
Dewey Robinson	Jake
Georgia Backus	Woman
Lew Davis	Waiter
Gino Corrado	Waiter
Frank Sully	Road Cop
Mabel Todd	Operator
Lee Prather	Sergeant-at-Arms
Clarence Muse	Doorkeeper
Leslie Brooks	Secretary
Alan Bridge	Desk Sergeant,Desk Sergeant
Joe Cunningham	McGuire
Jack Lowe	Workman
Robert Walker	Deputy Sheriff
Ronald Coleman	Actor
Frederick Hollander	Composer
Morris Stoloff	Composer

Technical Credits

Irwin Shaw

Sidney Buchman

Sidney Harmon

Dale Van Every

Irwin Shaw	Screenwriter
Sidney Buchman	Screenwriter
George Stevens	Producer
Donald Starling	Special Effects
Sidney Harmon	Screenwriter
Dale Van Every	Screenwriter

Scene Index

Side #1 --
1. Start
2. Leopold Dilg Escapes
3. Nora Shelley & the Fugitive
4. An Evening With Michael Lightcap
5. Early Morning Parade
6. A Cook & A Stenographer
7. Joseph the Gardener
8. Supreme Court Appointment
9. His Picture in the Paper
10. At the Ballpark
11. Chess & Argument
12. Right Scent, Wrong Man
13. Borscht With An Egg in It
14. At the Factory Ruins
15. Inviting Nora to Washington
16. His Identity Revealed
17. In Sam's Office
18. The Beard Comes Off
19. Regina in Mourning
20. Dancing With Miss Bush
21. Back in the Attic
22. Roadblock
23. Clyde Bracken, Alive & Well
24. Dilg Captured
25. Lightcap's Resolution
26. Justice Prevails
27. In Chambers
28. Nora Gets Her Man

Menu

Side #1 --
Play Movie
Subtitles
English
Japanese
French/Français
Korean
Subtitles Off
Scene Selections
Trailers
His Girl Friday
I Dreamed of Africa
Seems Like Old Times

Editorial Reviews

Part debate about the American legal system, part sophisticated romantic comedy, George Stevens's The Talk of the Town (1942) portrays a legally loaded love triangle between a wrongly accused fugitive, a local New England schoolteacher and a cloistered law professor. With Cary Grant as the accused Leopold, Jean Arthur as the teacher Nora and Ronald Colman as the jurist Lightcap, Stevens and screenwriters Irwin Shaw and Sidney Buchman seamlessly interweave introspective discussions about the law with clever repartee as Leopold and Nora scheme to convince Lightcap to abandon his disinterested stance and help Leopold's cause against the corrupt town machine. Spiked with bits of visual and physical comedy such as a bloodhound chase and some judiciously placed fried eggs, The Talk of the Town manages to be both serious about its patriotic message, and hilarious in its telling. Stevens's opening montage, complete with a threateningly dour Grant, is a model of economical story-telling, as is the exchange of parting glances between the three before Nora makes her romantic move. A substantial hit, The Talk of the Town was nominated for seven Oscars including Best Picture and Screenplay.