Today, I took another step towards seeing every Cary Grant film.  I would have viewed The Talk of the Town (1942) sooner, but I had yet to come across it in my streaming services scrolling.  The only thing that gave me pause is its runtime of nearly two hours.  What overrides my concern over its length is Grant being among the stars.  I cannot think of many of his movies that have failed to entertain me in some way.  This one also had some philosophical teeth to it that proved satisfactory from a Catholic perspective.  With that, it is my pleasure to tell you about another picture from Hollywood’s classic era.

As the opening credits for The Talk of the Town conclude, the last thing Leopold Dilg (Cary Grant) is experiencing is pleasure.  The mill in the small town in which he lives has burned to the ground, and its owner, Andrew Holmes (Charles Dingle), believes Leopold to be guilty.  Leopold is arrested, and with the death of Clyde Bracken (Tom Tyler) in the blaze, the purported arsonist’s prospects look grim.  This is the opinion of the local magistrate, Judge Grunstadt (George Watts), who is writing the opinion of the court before the facts have been presented.  Seeing little chance of a fair trial, Leopold breaks out of prison.  Though he hurts his ankle in the drop from the second story, he is able to make it to the home owned by Nora Shelley (Jean Arthur).  The two have known each other for years, and she is well aware of what has been happening with him.  She also knows that while he railed against conditions at the factory, he is not capable of what he is accused of doing.  As such, after some wrangling, she agrees to hide him in her attic until the next day when a new tenant for the rental property is due to arrive.  That person is Professor Michael Lightcap (Ronald Colman), famous law scholar, and he gets there that night.  The solution to Nora’s predicament is for her to stay there overnight, borrowing a pair of his pajamas and covering for Leopold’s loud snoring.  In the morning, things get crazier when seemingly half the town turns up at the door to glimpse the esteemed resident.  Most of this is for comedic purposes, and it is humorous, but the pertinent one is Sam Yates, Leopold’s lawyer.  Sam has come at Nora’s prompting, but she feigns surprise at his presence upon greeting him.  After a brief conversation with Professor Lightcap on the subject of jurisprudence, Nora follows Sam outside to finally admit to Leopold being on the lam in her place.  Sam’s advice is to make sure Leopold stays safe, and this means her putting her name forward for being Professor Lightcap’s assistant while the man of letters’ butler, Tilney (Rex Ingram), is away.  Nora’s insistence convinces the hesitant Professor Lightcap, who is soon told by Senator Boyd (Clyde Fillmore) that the academic is going to be nominated to the Supreme Court of the United States.  As such, having a fugitive under his roof would be embarrassing, which makes Nora nervous as she is taking notes for Professor Lightcap and sees Leopold sneaking downstairs for something to eat.  As Leopold is snacking, he overhears Professor Leopold’s dictation of his latest book on legal history.  The ever curious Leopold is interested, revealing himself, though Nora passes him off as the gardener, Joseph.  The encounter sparks a philosophical discussion between the two men, with Professor Lightcap maintaining a strict interpretation of the law and Leopold holding that such matters work different for a person of humble station.  At the same time, Leopold sees something in Professor Lightcap, and the supposed criminal plots with Sam to slowly work the boarder over to their side.  Leopold, Professor Lightcap, and Nora become friends, and the guys develop feelings for Nora.  Indeed, Professor Lightcap offers her a position with him, professionally and romantically, if and when he is called to Washington, D.C.  As for Leopold, his moves mainly center on him complimenting her.  Between Leopold, Nora, and Sam, though, they agree that they need to convince Professor Lightcap to take a closer look at the case that has riled the town’s populace.  Though it comes in starts and stops, the more Professor Lightcap sees, the more he is dubious of the proceedings.  He also finds out Leopold’s true identity when Professor Lightcap brings the man going by Joseph a jar of borscht, and notices the newspaper in which the food is wrapped bears the picture of an accused criminal.  The European delicacy also gives away Leopold’s location, and the police speed to the home to arrest Leopold.  Once again, Leopold gets away, but Professor Lightcap has come to regard Leopold as a friend.  To help Leopold, Professor Lightcap decides to take out Regina Bush (Glenda Farrell), Clyde’s girlfriend, for a night of dancing.  After a few sips of champagne, she all but admits that Clyde is alive and on the run in Boston.  At the same time, Nora realizes that Leopold must have returned to the attic at her rental.  Thus, the three of them are reunited, and they head north to find Clyde.  They are successful, but confusingly go to Nora’s house instead of to the police.  Fearing a mob whipped into a frenzy by Andrew and Judge Grunstadt, Leopold says he is going to take Clyde in alone.  As Leopold and Professor Lightcap argue, Clyde knocks them out and escapes.  This time, the police arrest Leopold and he is forced to endure a sham trial.  Yet, Professor Lightcap figures out that Clyde is hiding with Regina.  Taking a gun, Professor Lightcap figures out that Regina is hiding Clyde.  Under threat, Professor Lightcap rushes to the courthouse with Clyde where they are just in time to save Leopold from the rabble pushing inside.  The final sequence has Nora visiting Professor Lightcap in Washington as he is being sworn into the Supreme Court, but leaving with Leopold.

With all the focus on legal matters in The Talk of the Town, it is a good time to remind you of a famous quote by St. Augustine on the subject: “An unjust law is no law at all.”  It is a sentiment that has been handed on through the Catholic Church, being elucidated by such thinkers as St. Thomas Aquinas, and repeated in more modern settings by people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.  The issue lies in how we formulate the rules that govern us and how we follow them.  Much about a civilization’s success depends on its ability to govern itself peacefully.  This was true for the ancient Israelites and refined by Jesus in Matthew 22:21, “. . . repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar and to God what belongs to God.”  Many countries, including the United States, have used some of these basic principles in formulating a code by which all citizens can live.  It is in the application that problems arise.  We witness it today with our government, and we see it in the movie.  When there are dishonest people at the top of society, like Andrew and Judge Grunstadt, no matter how impersonal and equitable a law is designed to be, it can be twisted to nefarious purposes.  The film mentions that the factory had a faulty sprinkler system, which Leopold had pointed out among other supposedly problematic concerns he raised.  Instead of fixing the defect, Andrew hires Clyde to burn down the mill for the insurance, and colludes with Judge Grunstadt to pin it on Leopold.  Before we recoil in horror at these awful actions, consider the mob that believes the false narrative and wants to hang Leopold without a trial.  We see echoes of this today as well, believing conspiracy theories without evidence or thinking less of someone for simply being implicated.  Luckily, God views us differently, judging us by our hearts.

And that is perhaps the best word for The Talk of the Town: it has a lot of heart.  It gets a little dicey with the love triangle between Leopold, Professor Lightcap, and Nora, but I appreciate her poise with the situation.  She will not be told who to love, and she makes the right decision, for me, by the end.  Unsurprisingly, then, I fully recommend this film.