The Talk of the Town, nominated for seven Oscars, is now available for fans to bring home and laugh up a storm while watching on 4K Ultra HD.

It’s so fascinating that this film earned seven Oscar nominations. In watching the film over eight years after its release, one probably isn’t even giving Oscar a second thought. Composer Frederick Hollander shares the Oscar nomination with musical director Morris Stoloff. I didn’t give the score a second thought while watching in April 2010 but something caught my ear this time around. There are times where I could have sworn it sounded similar to “Yoda’s Theme” from Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. John Williams is a neo-classical film composer so it wouldn’t surprise me if this is the case. In addition to the score, the film earns nominations for Best Picture, Writing (Original Motion Picture Story), Adapted Screenplay, Art Direction (Black-and-White), Cinematography (Black-and-White), and Film Editing.

After escaping prison, Leopold Dilg (Cary Grant) seeks refuge at classmate Nora Shelley’s (Jean Arhur) cottage. What he doesn’t know is that Nora has rented the cottage to Professor Michael Lightcap (Ronald Colman), who is staying in Lochester as he writes a book. As such, Nora fibs and says that Leopold is her gardener, Joseph. But anyway, Lightcap soon learns from Senator Boyd the president is going to appoint him for seat as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Leopold and Nora use the time to convince Lightcap that Leopold is innocent. You’d think that Lightcap would stay out of it, what with his Supreme Court nomination and all, but he decides to do some investigating on his own.

Lightcap’s investigation leads him to mill owner Andrew Holmes (Charles Dingle), foreman Clyde Bracken (Tom Tyler), and Regina Bush (Glenda Farrell). Dilg volunteers to go back to jail but Lightcap prefers to take him to Boston. There’s a good bit of comedy taking place when the film isn’t being too serious. It’s a happy ending for Lepold, and in that case, Nora, too. Lightcap is on his way to Washington, where both Leopold and Nora follow and more hysterics ensue.

Cary Grant is an iconic screen legend. In this comedy, he is playing against type as an escaped criminal. The fact that Grant is a star means, in theory, that he’ll get a happy ending. You certainly don’t know it at the time. Meanwhile, while we’re dealing with Grant’s character and his mishaps, the film is also developing into a romantic comedy. Not just any romantic comedy but a love triangle between Grant, Arthur, and Colman. Both men do their best to push Arthur to the other man, forgetting that she should have a say in the matter. The ending was always the same in the script: Grant and Arthur ending up together.

George Stevens has a knack for comedy and certainly knows what he’s doing behind the camera. He has a way of knowing which shots will draw laughs from the audience. I mean, you have shot of a grown man crying while his friend is shaving his beard off. How could you not laugh at something like that?!? There’s a lot of humor that comes from the visuals in the film. For instance, the script calls for coffee being spilt onto the newspaper. Instead of coffee, they changed it to fried eggs.

Grant and Athur had previously teamed up with Cary Grant in Only Angels Have Wings. Unfortunately for Arthur, both male co-stars earned twice or more what she made on the film. This is not so much their fault in as much as it was Columbia’s tyrant president Harry Cohn. Scheduled to start production in mid-January, director George Stevens sent everyone home upon learning of Carole Lombard’s tragic death in a plane crash. Arthur and Stevens would later work together again on The More the Merrier (1943) and Shane (1953).

Rex Ingram appears as Lightcap’s valet, Tilney. Considering the era, one might think that Tilney would come off like a stereotype or caricature on screen. This doesn’t appear to be the case. It’s a role that does not appear to be dehumanizing in any situation.

Three’s a crowd in The Talk of the Town and the laughs are a plenty.

Bonus Features

• Commentary with Author Marilyn Ann Moss
• Talking about Talk of the Town

DIRECTOR: George Stevens
SCREENWRITERS: Irwin Show and Sidney Buchman
CAST: Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, and Ronald Colman, with Edgar Buchanan, Glenda Farrell, Charles Dingle, Emma Dunn, Rex Ingram, Leonid Kinskey, Tom Tyler, Don Beddoe

Columbia Pictures released The Talk of the Town in theaters on August 20, 1942. Grade: 4.5/5

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