Party Wire

This 1935 classic has got to be the most pleasant entertainment surprise of my experience in quite sometime. The two lead characters are people you could like. Jean Arthur portrays a small town bank clerk. Victor Jory is the hometown success story who returns to his little 'burg' and falls in love with the 'girl he left behind. Thing is that when he left neither he nor her knew he left her behind till he returned home. This is actually the side story. The main story is about nosy, gossiping Americans back in the day when phone communication had a party line. More than one person could use them at the same time to listen in on conversations of others. The other point of the story is how small minds can function in small towns ( it even takes place in big towns too )and ruin people that the small minds take their aim at. A great story line written well / acted well. Definitely worth your time.

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.

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.

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.

Party Wire concerns a small town. They are linked together by the same telephone line, a party wire. If one does not understand the way older telephones worked, with the total dependence on an operator and a switchboard, this concept is difficult to understand, which dates the film. However, suffice to say that everyone is able to listen in on everyone's phone calls, and others miss their calls often due to gossips tying up the line. In this small town, a visitor arrives, a man who used to live there by the name of Matthew Putname (Victor Jory). He is very wealthy so all of the young ladies of the town try to grab him, but the least interested one (Jean Arthur) happens to catch his eye. Gossips spreads through the town, not all of it true, and several dramatic things happen.

The film is based on a clever idea and contains several amusing sequences, but the main characters have no chemistry with each other and they themselves are lukewarm. It is difficult to care about their struggles if there is no sympathy. The best character plays Arthur's father, Charley Grapewin. He is lovable, funny, and a joy to watch.