The Whole Town's Talking

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The Whole Town's Talking

1935,

1h 35m,

Comedy

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100%

13 Reviews

Tomatometer

78%

250+ Ratings

Popcornmeter

100%

Tomatometer

13 Reviews

78%

Popcornmeter

250+ Ratings

Clerk Arthur Jones (Edward G. Robinson) lives a dull life until someone realizes that he looks like gangster "Killer" Mannion (also Robinson). After Jones is brought in by the police and his identity is verified, he is given a note to assuage any other suspicious policeman. Jones is hired by a newspaper to write about Mannion and starts dating Wilhelmina Clark (Jean Arthur). However, when Jones returns home one night, Mannion is waiting and demands the note so that he can roam freely.

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Richard Brody

The New Yorker

Dec 3, 2012

Satirically yet trenchantly embraces a wide range of modern experience, from the political to the intimate.

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Bernice Patton

Pittsburgh Courier

Dec 2, 2020

Sensational.

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Nathanael Hood

Unseen Films

Apr 18, 2020

7/10

...the closest thing director John Ford ever came to making a screwball comedy.

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Tim Brayton

Alternate Ending

Apr 9, 2020

3.5/5

A great showpiece for Robinson and one of the most offbeat curios in Ford's jam-packed filmography.

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Michael E. Grost

Classic Film and Television

Aug 22, 2014

Odd bur rich mix of the visionary, comedy and the darkest side of gangsters.

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David Nusair

Reel Film Reviews

Jan 27, 2007

2.5/4

...generally an amiable little comedy that benefits greatly from the charisma of its two leads.

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Luke P

Sep 10, 2018

Edward G. Robinson was a great actor. I saw this movie last night. The movie is absorbing and entertaining; and Mr. Robinson demonstrated his skills with such dexterity that his acting is a breath of fresh air.

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Albus S

Mar 12, 2018

Arthur nearly steals every scene she's in, but fortunately she's absent in enough that star Robinson still shines in his duel role.

George S

Mar 9, 2018

AMIABLE comedy. mostly of interest to those who want to see Robinson trade on his appeal as a gangster by playing a meek office worker who is a dead ringer for a gangster. Also, according to TCM the film that established Jean Arthur. They are both good but the film is slight.

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John Ford

Director

Edward G. Robinson

Arthur Ferguson Jones

Jean Arthur

Miss Clark

Arthur Hohl

Detective Sergeant Boyle

Wallace Ford

Healy

Arthur Byron

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Synopsis

Clerk Arthur Jones (Edward G. Robinson) lives a dull life until someone realizes that he looks like gangster "Killer" Mannion (also Robinson). After Jones is brought in by the police and his identity is verified, he is given a note to assuage any other suspicious policeman. Jones is hired by a newspaper to write about Mannion and starts dating Wilhelmina Clark (Jean Arthur). However, when Jones returns home one night, Mannion is waiting and demands the note so that he can roam freely.

Director: John Ford
Producer: Lester Cowan
Production Co: Columbia Pictures
Genre: Comedy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): Feb 21, 1935, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): May 23, 2014
Runtime: 1h 35m

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