The Whole Town's Talking (1935)

Absolutely the worst movie.

A Masterpiece!

To all those who have watched it: I hope you enjoyed it as much as I do.

The first must-see film of the year.

. . . but the American Overlord Ruling Class (aka, the Nutty Rat Armory) has outlawed any scientific medical application of similar logic when it comes to firearms. U.S. Law Enforcement Agencies have identified at least 43 million "ticking time bomb" individuals posing a high risk of becoming "active shooters," but the nutty rats have forced the police to React to them on a one-by-one basis while prohibiting any Proactive effort to save lives BEFORE they're lost. THE WHOLE TOWN'S TALKING sheds a lot of light on this weapons conundrum. Without a gun within his reach, "Jones" is a meek, poetry-writing office drudge. Yet the first time his fingers touch a military-style assault rifle he's instantly transformed into a "first-person shooter" firing indiscriminately. As Jones callously orders a mob hit upon his alter ego in the Nature vs. Nurture Debate--Mannion--it's clear that the "shooting iron" is the only difference between meek poet Jones and mad-dog Killer Jones. THE WHOLE TOWN'S TALKING may be enough to convince We Citizens of the 21st Century about the necessity to immediately seize all the firearms now stockpiled by the 43 million high-risk potential "active shooters," rather than continuing to tolerate the inevitable daily carnage as these Jones-like nuts go bad one-by-one. Maybe someday a super computer will be able to provide fool-proof predictions of exactly WHEN each poet Jones will reach his expiration date, go bad, and turn into a deadly Mad-dog Jones (as in the movie MINORITY REPORT). Until then, the only way to "keep up with the Joneses" is to take away their guns!!

Edward G. Robinson stars in "The Whole Town's Talking" along with Jean Arthur, Wallace Ford, and Donald Meek.Edward G. Robinson was such a wonderful actor, a little guy with a towering talent. Here he has a dual role - that of an escaped criminal, Mad Dog Mannion and that of Arthur Jones, clerical worker, a shy man with a crush on a coworker (Arthur). When Mannion escapes from prison, his face is on the front page, and he looks so much like Jones that someone who sees him in a restaurant turns him into the police. When fingerprint ID verifies that he is not Mannion, he's given a letter by the police chief stating that he's not Mannion and should be left alone and even gets a job writing for the local newspaper about his experiences being mistaken for Mannion.Unfortunately for poor Arthur, Mannion shows up and wants to use the pass, which he does, raising complete havoc. He also starts giving Arthur info for the news stories - and the police wonder how it is Arthur knows so much.One of the funniest parts of the film for me was the newspaper description of Mannion - a cruel mouth, a Neandrathal face, etc., and poor Jones looking at himself in the restaurant mirror trying to look evil.Robinson is fabulous - so sweet, so gentle, such a hard worker as Arthur and a ruthless killer as Mannion. Jean Arthur, as the outspoken Miss Clark is great - when she's questioned by the police, they assume she's Mannion's accomplice, so they keep asking her questions - who did this, who robbed that, and she keeps saying, using a tough, gun moll voice, "MANNION!" Then they find out it's not Mannion they caught after all.I thought the movie went on just a tad too long, but otherwise, it was quite good, with fun performances, well directed by a man known for his westerns and bigger films, John Ford.

Here Robinson plays the role of a mild-mannered bookkeeper, that of a body double in the person of a murderous gangster on the run - Killer Mannion, and he also effectively plays two other roles - that of the bookkeeper pretending to be the gangster, and the gangster pretending to be the bookkeeper. This could get very confusing, especially in the case of the latter two roles, but as the viewer you will be pretty sure you know who you're looking at by the circumstances. However, you'll still be bowled over by the subtlety of Robinson's performance - I know I was.Jean Arthur plays Jones' (Robinson's) would-be girlfriend. She works in the same place as Jones, but longs for more than a hum-drum existence. When Jones tells her his hopes and dreams of being a writer and traveling to exotic places, she encourages him, and seems to see what he could be even if Jones doesn't quite see it yet. Arthur has what amounts to one of the funniest scenes in the movie, and there are many candidates. When the police first pick up and arrest Jones, believing him to be Mannion, they pick up Arthur too, thinking that she is his "gun moll". She has some fun with this and starts using gangster slang and mannerisms and confessing that Mannion committed every crime that the police ask her about.One of my favorite supporting players of the 30's shows up here too - Ed Brophy, who was an assistant director over at MGM until Buster Keaton put him into a small but important role in "The Cameraman" in 1928. Once sound came in Brophy was perfect for playing supporting Runyonesque parts. Here Brophy plays an associate of Killer Mannion who is picked up by the police and makes a deal, promising to put the finger on Mannion. In return the police have to keep him safe in jail until Mannion is picked up. Brophy's character is brave whenever he thinks Manion has been captured and a blubbering coward whenever he realizes Mannion is still free.Highly recommended as a great screwball comedy that shows the versatility of not only Edward G. Robinson, but of director John Ford.

Whole Town's Talking, The (1935) *** (out of 4)A timid, shy and all around weak store clerk (Edward G. Robinson) gets mistaken for a harden gangster (Robinson) but his new fame allows him to store writing a column in a newspaper about how gangster are weak without their guns. Soon the gangster shows up wanting more than just a little help. As a comedy this movie is a real masterpiece but as a drama, the final thirty-minutes or so really bring down a lot of the great moments. While watching this Columbia movie you can't help but wonder if this was originally meant to be directed by Frank Capra as it has his screenwriters and the small town story certainly seems like something you'd get from a Capra and not someone like Ford. To his credit, Ford does a great job with the comedy and really delivers one of the funniest movies of the 1930's. The problem happens in the third act when it really turns to too much of a gangster film and the laughs are pretty much forgotten. What holds both sides together is the terrific performance by Robinson. The way he plays the timid clerk is just downright hilarious and this includes a masterfully acted interrogation sequence where Robinson is nearly brought to tears because he's so scared. Seeing a tough guy like Robinson acting scared was just hilarious and one actually starts to feel sorry for the guy because it appears he's about to die. Robinson is also great in his second role as the gangster as he's as tough as ever and does manage to come off quite demanding and threatening. Jean Arthur is wonderful as well and adds many great comic scenes including her own interrogation where she keeps admitting to crimes that she has nothing to do with or even knows about. Arthur Hohl, Arthur Byron, Wallace Ford and Donald Meek round out the supporting cast. You can even see Joe Sawyer playing one of Robinson's goons. Again, I didn't care for the final act of the film as the comedy starts to not happen but that doesn't take away from everything at the start of the movie. Robinson has never gotten the credit he deserves as an actual actor, which is a real shame but this film allows for both sides of him to be highlighted and to great effect.