Borgarkeri A bit overrated, but still an amazing film

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Portia Hilton Blistering performances.

Logan By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

atlasmb A Stranger in Town is a rather inconsequential film released in 1943. It is listed as a romance/drama, but it is more comedy than anything else, because the story is written very lightly.When I saw the title, I immediately wondered which version of small-town America would be presented--the myth of small town generosity that embraces all strangers as if they were friends, or the sometime reality that in small towns, people are suspicious of strangers and their motives, regarding them as outsiders (and sometimes barbarians). We don't have to wait long to find out.Supreme Court justice Joe Grant (played by Frank Morgan) visits the small town of Crown Port to get away from the city and hunt ducks. He immediately encounters the local game warden who invokes a local law and tries to extract a few bucks out of him. Joe goes to court to contest the fine and gets a less than encouraging result. While in town, he meets Bill Adams (Richard Carlson), a local attorney who is miffed enough about the entrenched, corrupt town mayor, and his cronies, to run for election against the mayor. But he feels he is fighting a losing battle, so his effort is half-hearted. Joe becomes a mentor to the young attorney and eventually lights a fire under his nominal campaign. Joe brings his secretary, Lucy Gilbert (Jean Rogers), to town where she also becomes involved in the proceedings.Both sides--the political machine of the incumbent and Bill's allies--use (some arcane) laws to battle. They thrust and parry until there is fighting in the streets.This is another film about the rights of men, and how they should hold government responsible in the name of justice. But if one watches carefully, the film demonstrates the unfortunate truth that the law is not about justice. Real knowledge of law is only available to attorneys. The common man must avail himself of their services, knowing that laws are created by (mostly lawyer) politicians. We all know how highly politicians are held in the public's esteem.Though this film was shooting for a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington-type rallying of the human spirit in the name of the "little man", it falls short. In the end, this film wraps up very neatly, as expected. I would watch the film, but not expect more than a cute little story with likable characters.

Kittyman In "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), fly-over wisdom solves Washington corruption. In "A Stranger in Town" (1943), Washington wisdom solves fly-over corruption.Frank Morgan portrays an incognito Supreme Court justice, who during his duck-hunting vacation, is reluctantly drawn into a small town fight against corruption. It is a dramatic change from his usual flamboyant-befuddled performance, and he does pretty well. One discordant note, however, occurs early in the picture. Morgan, while cradling a shotgun, meanders throughout town, into a barbershop, and even a courtroom. Nowadays, he'd have been pounced on, and probably branded a lunatic.The film's pace is snappy, the romantic leads (Richard Carlson and Jean Rogers) have excellent chemistry, and the supporting cast is fabulous. It includes Robert Barrat, Porter Hall, John Hodiak (in his debut), Donald MacBride, Andrew Tombes, and Chill Wills (later Francis-the-Talking-Mule's voice). Ironically, however, Robert Barrat, who does a fine job playing the oleaginous mayor, had, about a decade earlier, been cast in an opposing role as a bucolic reformer fighting corruption. (His part was in "The St. Louis Kid" [1934], a charming James Cagney vehicle.) Yet, "A Stranger" has two sloppy errors, both of which occur in the same scene. (They should have been caught and corrected.) First, Carlson enters the local hotel and orders a "single room" for the night, but walks away leaving his key behind. Then, the following morning in court, he testifies that the hotel had violated the law by having the twin beds in his room placed less than two feet apart. If his room was a single, however, it wouldn't have had twin beds.Finally, you might try following-up this film with "The Magnificent Yankee" (1950) if you're into related double features. It is a heartwarming story about Oliver Wendell Holmes, an actual Supreme Court justice, whose tenure would have ended at about the same time Morgan's fictitious one had started.

MartinHafer Oddly, this film stars Frank Morgan as a Supreme Court justice! He's on vacation and runs afoul of a small town's corrupt administration. The crooked judge, mayor and their henchmen don't realize who Morgan is, so he's able to see first-hand their under-handed tactics. Because of their abuse of political power, Morgan decides to stick around and assist a naive young lawyer (Richard Carlson) in his bid to become mayor. At first, they are pretty much ignored, though in time, when the race for mayor seems tight, the old mayor unleashed a wave of dirty tricks--not realizing that Morgan holds the ultimate trump card.I had a hard time deciding whether to score this one a 7 or an 8. It was very good--particularly for a B-movie. Being a "B", it is a relatively short picture (only 67 minutes) but unlike many Bs it has excellent production values (especially the writing) and is very entertaining. About the only knock against it is that I thought the fight scenes were a bit too "slapsticky" and didn't exactly integrate well into the rest of the picture. Still, it's a dandy performance by Frank Morgan, as he's more restrained (i.e., less "hammy") than in most of his starring vehicles--well worth seeing and a lot of fun--as well as a decent civics lesson.

krorie "A Stranger in Town" holds up very well after sixty-three years. The only part that seems curious and quaint today is the closing with Joe Grant (The Wizard of Oz, aka Frank Morgan) giving a rousing patriotic speech (remember this was made during the height of World War II). The court packing scheme of President Roosevelt was still fresh on the movie goer's mind, having been all over the news a short six years earlier. So having a Supreme Court justice go incognito was apropos in 1943. Today, few would recognize a Supreme Court justice if they tripped over one. So no need for a disguise. Changing times.Associate Justice Josephus Grant attempting to get away from it all goes on a duck-hunting vacation to the small town of Crown Port. He no sooner arrives than he is arrested and tried for not having a local hunting license but in reality because he wouldn't pay off the local police official who caught him. It becomes obvious to Grant that he has chosen a corrupt town for his vacation. Enter a reform candidate for mayor, Bill Adams (Richard Carlson), who has virtually given up any hope of winning. Grant rallies Adams onward and upward by teaching him tricks of the trade in the court room. Fighting city hall becomes more fun when Grant's business-like, yet attractive and smart, secretary, Lucy Gilbert (Jean Rogers), comes to town to bring Grant important papers concerning a case the Court is hearing. Yes, it is love at first sight between Adams and Lucy. Much of the fun centers on Adams' clumsiness and shyness in trying to court Lucy. The election heats up with all sorts of humorous skulduggery until the showdown involving a free-for-all brawl on the street in front of Adams' campaign headquarters.This film is so fast-paced with fine acting by all involved, including a gallery of character actors such as Chill Wills, Olin Howland, Donald MacBride, Porter Hall, and even Eddy Waller in a bit part, that it proves extremely entertaining with many a wry comment on the politics of the day, which are not unlike the politics of today.