Party Wire

Enjoyable yarn that takes its inspiration from the party line, a concept that may be unfamiliar to many people today. In rural areas, many telephone subscribers would share the same telephone number. I actually had a party line in rural new Jersey as recently as the 1970's! Different households had different rings to distinguish one from another. However, nosy neighbors could listen in to each other's conversations, just like when a member of your family picks up the upstairs extension. As a result, gossip and news traveled fast in small town America back in the early part of the twentieth century. The plot revolves around an certain overheard conversation that leads to an ugly rumor. (Misstated, by the way in the review by Eva, who captures the gist of things in a review with many factual errors)

This movie features many of the great character actors of the thirties and is led by by the always-wonderful Jean Arthur. It has the fast pace typical of the movies of the period. A very well made time capsule of rural America between the wars. Worth a look.

This is an interesting case where a film's rating doesn't really reflect how watchable a film is. I think PARTY WIRE earned a 7--mostly because although it had a very good story, it also wasn't exactly subtle or believable. However, it was extremely fun to watch despite its limitations as "art".

The film is about a horrid little town where they use a party line. For those whippersnappers out there who don't know what one is, it's a system where the people in a community share a phone line. It's cheaper and easier than installing separate lines but its major drawback is that ANYONE in the system can eavesdrop on others' conversations. In this nasty town, practically all the old ladies spend much of their time listening in--as they take perverse pleasure in spreading gossip. While they don't show the men listening in, they are just as bad because once their wives learn "the truth" about others, they, too, spread these tales.

Victor Jory plays a rich business man who returns to this town after many years' absence. Practically the entire town learns he's coming well in advance due to the party line and many of them are hopeful they can ride his coattails to wealth. However, Jory just wants to relax on his vacation and catch up with a girl (Jean Arthur) and her father (Charley Grapewin). However, during this visit, the town gossips THINK that Arthur is pregnant by another man and the town treats her abominably--so it's up to her new fiancé to set the record straight and teach the town a well-earned lesson.

Stand out actors in the film were Victor Jory and Jean Arthur. As for Jory, though he made a ton of films, often he played villains and wasn't exactly the handsome leading man, but I liked him a lot in the film. He was a very solid actor and it was refreshing to see a normal looking leading man. As for Arthur, she was, as always, terrific.

Grapwin played a sort of crusty but lovable old coot. While his shtick was his love of applejack (home made apple alcohol), this was a bit hard to laugh at because I kept thinking he needed a 12-Step Program! It's funny how we laughed at this sort of stuff in the 1930s and today it would make some a bit uncomfortable.

Overall, the film excels at getting the audience to care about the characters and really wanting to see the town get their comeuppance. While subtlety isn't exactly emphasized (such as comparing the gossips to closeups of croaking frogs), it is enjoyable and worth seeing. For a similar film, though one that is handled much better, try seeing Henri-Georges Clouzot's LE CORBEAU. It's better written and makes the same point about gossip.

If you didn't grow up in a town like this, you might think the plot was exaggerated, and that people didn't really act like this. But they did. From the old man with his jug to all the members of the First Self Righteous church, these are all characters from my home town. Even the party line was familiar, but these old gossips didn't need the party line to spread gossip about every one in town. And it didn't need to be anything specific, just a whiff of anything different, and they were all off baying like hounds.

I was very unhappy that there was no real chemistry between the leads in this movie. I have seen Victor Jory as Indians and as every sort of criminal, but as a romantic lead he is a total dud. A handsome profile, a great voice, but as snake eyed as they come, and I kept waiting for him to hiss. A shame Jean Arthur didn't have someone more attractive to play opposite her.

PARTY WIRE is a quaint mixture of comedy and drama as small town gossip plays havoc with an innocent girl's life through a misunderstanding when her father (CHARLEY GRAPEWIN) exchanges a questionable phone conversation with her boyfriend. The boyfriend says he's leaving town, while Grapewin threatens him with a gun and tells him he has to "straighten out the mess you left my daughter in." Naturally, the town gossips jump to the wrong conclusion and all hell breaks loose.

JEAN ARTHUR is delightful as the girl who sees her reputation torn to shreds--first, when she loses her bank job and then disqualified from winning the $200 first prize at the flower show by the malicious woman (CLARA BLANDICK) who spread the gossip. VICTOR JORY is the town's most eligible, wealthiest bachelor who has a yen for Jean while being pursued by the young ladies for his money--and it's his mother (HELEN LOWELL) who puts an end to the gossip by showing up at a town meeting and disclosing the hypocrisy of all those who jumped to the wrong conclusions.

It's very dated stuff (Osborne had to explain what a party line was to today's audience of cellphone users), and the situations are the kind seen in numerous other such small town comedies. But it's refreshing to see that there's at least a glimmer of chemistry between Jory (who usually played bad guys) and Arthur, although it's easy to see why he was better cast in villainous roles throughout most of his career.

Summing up: A pleasant item, extremely dated but likely to find some appeal for JEAN ARTHUR's fans who enjoy her in this sort of thing.

In the late 30's and 40's many people did not have telephones and when they became available, most middle income people purchased a phone with usually three or more people using the same telephone line with an operator to make the calls on certain lines. This film deals mostly about this situation in a small town where people could listen in to your conversation with other people. Jean Arthur,(Margie Oliver) plays the role of a sweet young gal living with her father, Charley Grapewine (Will Oliver) who is drinking morning noon and night and never seems to finish painting his garage. Victor Jory,(Matthew Putman) is an owner of a large Dairy Farm business in town where most of the local people are employed and has recently returned to his home town and visited with his boyhood sweetheart, Margie Oliver. The use of a Party Wire in this town has caused a great deal of trouble for quite a few people and creates a very comical situation and also some drama. Some of the actors in this film appeared in the Wizard of Oz as well as many other great film classics. Victor Jory played a good guy in this film, but most of his film career was playing the evil one even in Westerns. Enjoy a great Classic film.