The Whole Town’s Talking by John Ford (1935)
Director John Ford is best known for westerns like Stagecoach and The Searchers, while Edward G. Robinson established the classic Hollywood image of the scowling, scheming gangster. But on The Whole Town’s Talking, the duo did something else entirely: a screwball comedy. Robinson plays Arthur Ferguson Jones, a mild-mannered office clerk who has a somewhat obsessive crush on his spunky co-worker Wilhelmina Clark (Jean Arthur). Unfortunately, Jones bears more than a passing resemblance to “Killer” Mannion, the country’s most notorious gangster, who’s currently on the lam. What ensues is a classic case of mistaken identity that turns deadly when the real Mannion (also played by Robinson) shows up to take advantage of the situation. The Whole Town’s Talking was included as part of The Criterion Channel’s “Office Romances” collection alongside His Girl Friday, and unfortunately, it suffers by comparison. The Whole Town’s Talking is certainly a sweet enough film, thanks to Robinson’s meek performance and Arthur’s delightful sass, and it has its humorous moments — especially when the bungling police are involved — but if you want a true screwball comedy, stick with His Girl Friday. Also, my wife and I were on tenterhooks the entire film concerning Jones’s bathtub, but the film seemed to forget all about that. (If you know, you know.)
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