The Whole Town's Talking (1935)

Synopsis: Although John Ford's films often included comic elements, he made few that were pure comedies--THE WHOLE TOWN'S TALKING, starring Edward G. Robinson as obsequious hardware-store clerk Arthur Jones,... Although John Ford's films often included comic elements, he made few that were pure comedies--THE WHOLE TOWN'S TALKING, starring Edward G. Robinson as obsequious hardware-store clerk Arthur Jones, is one of them. A man of almost appallingly regular habits, Arthur hasn't been late for work in years. Although he has a long-standing crush on his lively coworker Wilhelmina "Bill" Clark (Jean Arthur), he's unable to tell her how he feels. While he's having lunch one day, he's arrested by police who mistake him for mob boss Killer Manion. After his employer clears him, the police give Arthur a pass identifying him as the non-Killer. As a gimmick, a newspaper hires the clerk to write a series of articles speculating about his unruly doppelgänger. The gangster reads the piece, learns about the pass, and realizes how convenient such a document could be. He pays the terrified Arthur a visit, extracting the pass and insisting the newspaper series be devoted to his past exploits before departing for a night of the usual mayhem. Robinson's career received a huge boost from this deliciously humorous film, which toys amusingly with his gangster iconography. Not all is comic, however, as Ford filters the Victorian Jekyll-and-Hyde notion of a split self into his narrative to suggest Jones's evil twin corresponds to the darker corridors of the meek clerk's unconscious mind. [More]

Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Jean Arthur, James Donlan, Arthur Hohl

Starring: Edward G. Robinson, Jean Arthur, James Donlan, Arthur Hohl, Arthur Byron, Wallace Ford, Donald Meek, Etienne Girardot, Edward Brophy, Paul Harvey, Lucille Ball

Director: John Ford

Director: John Ford
Screenwriter: Jo Swerling, Robert Riskin
Story: W.R. Burnett
Producer: Lester Cowan

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