Back Page

A very good second feature about a young woman, fired from her big-city newspaper job, who takes over a small town paper and makes a go of it. If you are used to seeing precode movies from big studios with large budgets, you may have issues with the barebone values of this production, but it is worth a look, if only to see if you will enjoy this sort of socially responsible movie.

The strong script includes some real insight into the problems of getting advertisers, small town politics and 1930s feminism. Unhappily, Peggy Shannon, in the lead role, is not up to the part and Sterling Holloway has an obnoxious comedy part, but the rest of the cast is excellent and the issues raised will not be totally alien to the modern viewer.

As a former journalist myself, I almost always love these movies about small-town papers, or crusading big-town papers.

"Back Page" seems so unlikely today, with, in fact, reports earlier today, 15 November 2019, that the Gannett chain has been bought by a company with the word "investments" in its name.

In other words, it will probably be even less interested in news, but even more in profits, than was the Gannett operation.

"Back Page" is about journalists seeking to report news, as well as win and keep advertisers.

"Back Page" also benefits in having a perky, lovely, adorable Peggy Shannon as the forceful news reporter. She was an extremely capable and watchable actress, but never reached the acclaim she should have, and then died very young from a heart attack.

Claude Gillingwater is really the number two player, getting the chance to demonstrate his great talent by showing a wide range of emotions.

Harry Chandlee's story of small-town chicanery makes a good film, and I appreciate it more than most, perhaps, because I know of so many real-life parallels.

This is the kind of low-budget picture that shows the big-budget people how to make a good movie, with a strong story, talented cast, and high production values. I highly recommend "Back Page," and a good version is available at YouTube.

I don't see any crime in this newspaper movie, rather a comedy with few light dramatic moments. It's a real cheap production, the settings are truly poor. Story of a beautiful young woman who gets in charge of a newspaper in a small country town. She discovers the rich industrials and their business. Nothing is exciting in this cheap story written by unknown screenwriters. Even more unknown is the director, it's his only movie. Fortunely, there is the charmingly sexy Peggy Shannon, who can be strongly determinated in front of tough businessmen. She's unknown to me, I'll have to see again a nice film noir, "House across the bay" in which she plays. She died the same year. What a pity.

"Back Page" is a very low-budget film from tiny Pyramid Productions. And, because it's a very cheap B-movie, the cast is mostly made up of unknowns and a few scenes where folks flubbed their lines were STILL included in the movie!

The story begins with a lady reporter becoming angry with the newspaper owner, as he killed her story and she resented it. Since she's tired of beig a little fish in a little pond, she takes her friend's suggestion to go to a tiny paper in order to run things herself. Soon Ms. Hampton is the managing editor and the tiny fly-by-night paper is growing very quickly. But there are some dishonest folks in town who are determined to take over the paper and stop its crusading ways.

At about 24:55 and 55:25, some lines were badly blown. But the director didn't bother re-shooting it...most likely because Pyramid couldn't afford it! This, combined with a mediocre story about a plucky lady reporter, consign this to the category of a time-passer and nothing more. Not terrible but not all that good either.

A young female reporter is fired from a big city newspaper, then decides to take over a troubled small town newspaper. She encounters difficulties with small town politics, getting advertisers to help keep the paper afloat, and issues with 1930s feminism in the resistance she receives from the town's residents to her attempts to run the newspaper.

This film is amazing and not very well known. Why not? Peggy Shannon is like a Rosalind Roussell on a budget. And Sterling Holloway is here, in all his glory... is this an openly gay character? If not, it is about the closest we probably see in this era.

A great story through and through, and well worth a peak if you can find a copy. It is available as a bonus feature of "Deluge", though frankly it is much better than the main film!