Home Town Story (1951)

Just perfect...

A Masterpiece!

The first must-see film of the year.

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

Strange little film, this...I can almost imagine how they planned it (à la the conference in The Majestic): "For more emotional appeal, we need a kiddie and a doggie"... "Show how the bad guy becomes bad, then repents, in the face of high drama"... "The good guy must be introduced subtly, but then showing that all good comes from him and his company... a corporate doctor, a private plane that he pilots himself... Up to the life-saving motor (?) in the emergency room"... "And state (proof not needed) that his company treats poison waste well, and would never dump it into a river"... "To make the message sink better, let that gorgeous Miss Monroe say she wouldn't date the journalist, but marry the boss of a four-truck company"...What probably wasn't planned is that when the taxi drives through the vast "MacFarland" plant, the main building is labeled General Motors.Still, I found this film quite interesting, as a historic exhibit. I really enjoyed the bulldozer scenes.On another hand, the message that company profits let the customer profit sounds a little faint in these days of Lehman Bros., Madoff, and what else is in the news :^)

The cover of this DVD caught my eye as I was walking by the bargain bin. Being a Marilyn fan I was caught by the large "Starring Marilyn Monroe" on the cover along with an equally large photo of a young Marilyn. I decided for $3.99 it was worth buying.I'm not sure if this constitutes a "spoiler" or not, but Marilyn is in 3 scenes and speaks 3 1/2 (maybe 4) lines of dialog. Not exactly what I'd call a "starring" role. But then, she is wearing tight sweaters in her scenes, so I wasn't totally disappointed (there, I said it).It was also nice seeing The Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.) wearing something other then a blue shirt and a captain's hat.Being only about an hour long (it was the first half of a double feature, the other half being a James Cagney film), I didn't feel like I had wasted time seeing the movie. In fact, the story really wasn't that bad, the packaging was just a little misleading.

Home Town Story, 61 minutes long, is about a defeated State Senator, Blake Washburn, (played by Jeffrey Lynn) who comes home with quite an electoral chip on his shoulder, to lick his wounds, feel sorry for himself, and wallow in his bitterness. His bitterness spreads to others. He's not above punching a guy for joking about the election, and even his old friends are likely to be met with a cold shoulder. He wants to get married along the way to long-suffering fiancé Janice Hunt(Marjorie Reynolds), if he can ever get his priorities right.Washburn takes over his uncle's newspaper, and takes on big business as an enemy of the people, blaming corporations, and in particular, manufacturer MacFarland, for his political defeat. Slim Haskins, (a young Alan Hale, Jr. of Gilligan's Island fame, with his infectious laugh), his best friend and lead reporter, grows increasingly frustrated at Washburn's politicized agenda.When tragedy strikes, and Washburn's little sister Katie (Melinda Plowman) enters an old mine to retrieve her new puppy and becomes the victim of a terrible cave-in, Washburn must re-examine his views. A valuable message benefits this film: if no one makes a profit, no one will be profited. Other lessons are obvious: kindness is a great trait; don't play the blame-game, and have the right priorities.Fans will enjoy young Marilyn Monroe's presence in her supporting role as Iris Martin who works in the Herald newspaper office. In 1951 Home Town Story, she already exhibited all of the traits the world has become fascinated with: the breathless speech, the Monroe walk and those sweaters! Monroe has a small but very amusing and memorable role in the picture, but you'll find her picture on the cover. Out of 61 minutes, Marilyn is only present in approximately 1 minute and 40 seconds.This film was never released commercially.

Yes I bought the DVD because of the Marilyn Monroe connection, but found a 1951 movie that was quite compelling as typical of the era: Yes, McCarthyism was raging, and the film had an "america is great" message. But that's all right. It was a good "morality story". Well written. Enjoyable (and this from a big liberal). Allen Hale Jr. is great as the reporter and former WWII Sea-Bee. And I love the character actress who plays the Society Reporter at the newspaper. And, of course, Marjery Reynolds had a great career on early television, shortly after this film.But the best performance - great despite the fact that it is the vehicle to please the "anti Communist" / Black-list fear of 1951, is that of Donald Crisp: an incredible actor!!