The Talk of the Town

Cinephile deep dive

The take

George Stevens directs. Ted Tetzlaff behind the camera. Friedrich Hollaender scores. Otto Meyer cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

• 1Shot for just $1.0M — micro-budget by Hollywood standards.
• 284 years old — a genuine piece of film history.
• 3Directed by George Stevens, shot by Ted Tetzlaff. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
• 4Original score by Friedrich Hollaender. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
• 5Editor Otto Meyer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
• 6Cary Grant and Jean Arthur and Ronald Colman carry the top of the cast.
• 7Marketing tagline: "Three people who make life more exciting... love more precious... laughter more joyous!".
• 8IMDB entry: tt0035417 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
• 9Classified under 15 themes, including "factory", "fire", "love triangle", "romcom".
• 10Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography

Ted Tetzlaff

Original score

Friedrich Hollaender

Editing

Otto Meyer

Costume design

Irene

Runtime

118 min · 1h 58m

Aspect ratio (typical)

1.37:1 (Academy)

Status

Released

Budget

$1,000,000

Box office

$1,100,000

Return

110% of budget

Original language

EN

Certification (US)

NR

IMDB

The Talk of the Town (1942) ↗

Rotten Tomatoes

89% 🍅 Fresh

IMDB rating

7.5/10 · 9,320 votes

MPAA

Approved

Also by

George Stevens

• 
  The Cohens and Kellys in Trouble

  1933 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Laddie

  1935 · ★ 10.0
• 
  Rough Necking

  1934 · ★ 10.0
• 
  The Undie-World

  1934 · ★ 9.5
• 
  Mama Loves Papa

  1931 · ★ 9.5
• 
  George Stevens World War II Footage

  1946 · ★ 8.0

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

• 

  ▶
  The Talk Of The Town (1942) - Trailer

  Trailer

Community reviews

What people are saying

• John Chard2019-07-01
  ★ 8/10

  What is the law? It's a gun pointed at somebody's head. All depends upon which end of the gun you stand, whether the law is just or not. The Talk of the Town is directed by George Stevens and Stevens co-produces with Fred Guiol. It's adapted by Dale Van Every, Irwin Shaw and Sidney Buchman from a story by Sidney Harmon. It stars Cary Grant, Jean Arthur, Ronald Colman, Rex Ingram and Edgar Buchanan. Leopold Dilg (Grant), a radical and political thinking man, is accused of burning down a mill and causing the death of a foreman in the subsequent fire. On trial for his life, he decides to escape from jail and makes his way to the home of his school day friend Nora Shelley (Arthur). However, his timing couldn't be worse, for Nora has taken in a tenant for the summer, a law professor, Michael Lightcap (Colman). Passing him off as the gardener, Nora has to hope that Lightcap doesn't cop on to Dilg being an escaped prisoner. But with both men feeling each other out, and both having designs on Nora, something is going to have to give. Though nominated in seven Academy Award categories, "The Talk of the Town" won none. Perhaps more surprisingly is that of those seven nominations, none were for acting or direction. Surprising because the film is impeccably acted and smoothly directed. It was, however, rightly nominated for Best Picture (it lost out to William Wyler's "Mrs. Miniver") and was a big smash at the box office. The public quickly warmed to the blend of comedy with intelligent politico musings. The set up is safe, a potential love triangle - with the three leads playing off each other sublimely - is nicely played out whilst the two men partake in discussions about the law, the applications of such and its moral worth. The comedy that comes in fits and starts is not so much of the screwball variety, but more that of ebullience born out of beautifully written sequences. Some argue that the plot is heavily reliant on contrivances (how many 1940s comedies aren't?), but ultimately that is easily forgiven given the quality on show across the board. 8/10

  Read full review ↓

Production companies

Who made it

• 

  Columbia Pictures

  US

Key crew

• ProducerGeorge Stevens
• AdaptationDale Van Every
• Associate ProducerFred Guiol
• Art DirectionLionel Banks
• Assistant DirectorNorman Deming
• Music DirectorMorris Stoloff
• Costume DesignIrene
• EditorOtto Meyer

Themes & keywords

What it's about, really

• factory
• fire
• love triangle
• romcom
• trial
• supreme court
• murder
• arson
• debate
• misunderstanding
• gardener
• hideout
• criminal law
• romantic
• adoring

Release history · US

When it landed

• Theatrical1942-08-20NR

Also known as

International titles

• Three's a CrowdUS
• The Gentleman MisbehavesUS
• Mister TwilightUS
• George Stevens' The Talk of the TownUS
• Han kom om nattenSE
• O Assunto do DiaPT
• Glosy miastaPL
• Het gesprek van de stadNL
• Un evaso ha bussato alla mia portaIT
• Anthropini dikaiosyniGR
• Hän tuli yölläFI
• Tres contra todosAR