A Stranger in Town

What makes this one Stand Out from War Years Motion Picture Portrayals of Small Town America is the Realist Portrayal of Corruption. Films of that Era (WWII) Tended to Propagandize the USA as a Utopia of Goodness as its Rally Cry to Ramp Up the Citizenry.

Nothing Wrong with that but it is Refreshing that this Little Movie had the Integrity to Say that Maybe We were not Perfect and some Fighting was needed Right Here at Home. Notice how the Justice Prods and Pokes at Apathy and Cowardice against Inequities and Bullying.

It's all Done in a Lighthearted Manner and is Good Entertainment while Posing Questions and Inspiring to a Greater Good. Certainly Worth a Watch for 1943 Cultural References that are Still Relevant Today.

Good "B" picture starring Frank Morgan as a Supreme Court justice who goes on a hunting trip. He winds up becoming entangled with a small town's crooked politicians. Unassuming drama has a slight Frank Capra feel to it. Morgan is very good in a subdued performance. Richard Carlson plays the young lawyer who seems to be the only one in town that wants to stand up to the corrupt politicians. Robert Barrat, Porter Hall, Donald MacBride and company make amusing villains. Jean Rogers is the pretty love interest for Carlson. Pleasant cast and an earnest script. Short runtime helps. This is an entertaining hidden gem you should definitely check out if you get the chance.

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.

"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.

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.