It's A Small World (1935)

Great Film overall

Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

Absolutely the worst movie.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

For her first Hollywood movie, the charming British movie star, Wendy Barrie, is imported into this delightful rustic romance, set against the background of Raymond Walburn's small-town chicanery. Top photographer Arthur Miller has not only beautifully captured the sight and atmosphere of the backwoods, but served Miss Barrie admirably. Although the screenplay by Gladys Lehmann and Sam Hellman is constructed on the traditional model of a stage play, the writers have showered the cast with dialogue that has plenty of zing. Director Irving Cummings and his players, particularly Barrie, Spencer Tracy, Raymond Walburn, Virginia Sale, Astrid Allwyn and Charles Sellon, really make the screenplay thoroughly entertaining. Music director Arthur Lange has provided a pleasant musical accompaniment, while Hubert's costumes are no less than terrific. Miss Barrie has rarely looked more attractive! Available on a Teakwood Video DVD.

It's a Small World is a Fox clone of the previous year's It Happened One Night with the locale in Southern back country. It begins when spoiled socialite Jane Dale (Wendy Barrie) and abrasive lawyer Bill Shelvin (Spencer Tracy) "meet cute" in a small-town auto accident. Naturally, there is the expected flare-up of tempers and accusations of everything from just plain carelessness to murderous intent. The fiery Dale and equally fiery young attorney Shelvin are towed into the one-horse town by Julius B. Clummerhorn (Raymond Walburn). It turns out that Clummerhorn is the whole works: sheriff, judge, taxi driver, barber, game warden, hotel and garage owner and everything else that might be productive of a stray nickel. The judge/sheriff holds a trial to determine who is at fault and a host of town eccentrics including Dick Foran (motorcycle cop), Frank McGlynn Sr. & Jr. (as Snake Brown Junior and Snake Brown Junior-Junior, respectively) and especially Irving Bacon (Cal) all have their inning in contributing to the colorful proceedings. But not for nothing is Shelvin a lawyer bitten by love bug, and the manner in which he hornswoggles Clummerhorn is a gem of amusing trickery and gibberish. How this screwball comedy wraps up is like teaching an old dog a new trick. It's a Small World was Wendy Barrie's first American Film and the last picture that Tracy shot for Fox. Irving Bacon is my favorite character actor and according to the IMDb, he appeared in 444 films! Maybe not as many as Bess Flowers (672) or Tom London (549), but he's in a lot better scenes in more great films than any actor I have found, so enjoy this lean-underbelly-of-a-ham in a choice part!