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I don't think there's anyone who's ever seen The Whole Town's Talking and doesn't believe this was a film intended for Frank Capra. The mere fact that the screenplay was co-written by Robert Riskin who won an Oscar together with Capra for It Happened One Night the year before should give ample indication. If Capra had a choice between this and Broadway Bill he chose wrong.

Although this kind of comedy is not usually what is found in John Ford films, Ford does OK by it. I don't think he ever directed again anything that could be remotely classified as screwball comedy.

Edward G. Robinson who would make his second and last appearance in a Ford film 34 years later in Cheyenne Autumn, plays a dual role. He plays Killer Mannion in the tradition he established as Little Caesar and also A.L. Jones a meek, mild mannered clerk a type Robinson would play later in Mr. Winkle Goes to War.

Mannion's escaped from prison and there's a manhunt on for him, similar to the kind that was on for John Dillinger a year earlier. The police will simply shoot to kill. Bad luck for a guy that looks like Mannion and worse luck when Mannion finds out about his doppleganger and tries to make use of him.

Robinson is fine in his dual performance, but the film was a milestone for Jean Arthur who plays Robinson's fellow employee and despite his being a milquetoast, she sees something in him. Up to this point Arthur had played a lot of ingénues and loyal wives to leading men. This is her first role in a screwball type comedy that she became known for, in fact what she's remembered for mostly. Of course a year later, Harry Cohn did team her with Frank Capra and they certainly made some cinematic history.

My favorite two supporting parts are Etienne Girardot as Robinson's officious little office manager and Donald Meek another milquetoast who originally mistakenly turns in the clerk as the gangster and stays on the 'case.'

Though he's not in his element John Ford serves a nice piece of entertainment.

Here Robinson plays the role of a mild-mannered bookkeeper, that of a body double in the person of a murderous gangster on the run - Killer Mannion, and he also effectively plays two other roles - that of the bookkeeper pretending to be the gangster, and the gangster pretending to be the bookkeeper. This could get very confusing, especially in the case of the latter two roles, but as the viewer you will be pretty sure you know who you're looking at by the circumstances. However, you'll still be bowled over by the subtlety of Robinson's performance - I know I was.

Jean Arthur plays Jones' (Robinson's) would-be girlfriend. She works in the same place as Jones, but longs for more than a hum-drum existence. When Jones tells her his hopes and dreams of being a writer and traveling to exotic places, she encourages him, and seems to see what he could be even if Jones doesn't quite see it yet. Arthur has what amounts to one of the funniest scenes in the movie, and there are many candidates. When the police first pick up and arrest Jones, believing him to be Mannion, they pick up Arthur too, thinking that she is his "gun moll". She has some fun with this and starts using gangster slang and mannerisms and confessing that Mannion committed every crime that the police ask her about.

One of my favorite supporting players of the 30's shows up here too - Ed Brophy, who was an assistant director over at MGM until Buster Keaton put him into a small but important role in "The Cameraman" in 1928. Once sound came in Brophy was perfect for playing supporting Runyonesque parts. Here Brophy plays an associate of Killer Mannion who is picked up by the police and makes a deal, promising to put the finger on Mannion. In return the police have to keep him safe in jail until Mannion is picked up. Brophy's character is brave whenever he thinks Manion has been captured and a blubbering coward whenever he realizes Mannion is still free.

Highly recommended as a great screwball comedy that shows the versatility of not only Edward G. Robinson, but of director John Ford.

John Ford directs a screwball comedy?? He does and quite well I may say. This is a story of a meek mild manner clerk named Ferguson(Robinson) who always gets stepped on and used. One day he is mistaken for "Killer Mannion". Mannion is a mean ruthless gangster who cares for no one. Ferguson is a sweet kind man who cares for beautiful Wilhelmina(played by Jean Arthur). Thanks to a police screwup, Mannion knows about Ferguson and is out to use him.

The script is cute and funny. It's also good in setting up the situation and the development of characters. It is not one of the best comedy ever made, but it is still very entertaining. The cast is first rate. Edward G does a terrific job at playing both the good AND the bad guy. Jean Arthur is funny as Eddie's wise cracking co-worker(check her out playing the "gangster moll"!) The other supporting characters are good too. The special effects showing both Robinsons on screen is quite good for it being 1935.

If you get a chance to see it, please do. It is a very cute film.

Edward G. Robinson stars in "The Whole Town's Talking" along with Jean Arthur, Wallace Ford, and Donald Meek.

Edward G. Robinson was such a wonderful actor, a little guy with a towering talent. Here he has a dual role - that of an escaped criminal, Mad Dog Mannion and that of Arthur Jones, clerical worker, a shy man with a crush on a coworker (Arthur). When Mannion escapes from prison, his face is on the front page, and he looks so much like Jones that someone who sees him in a restaurant turns him into the police. When fingerprint ID verifies that he is not Mannion, he's given a letter by the police chief stating that he's not Mannion and should be left alone and even gets a job writing for the local newspaper about his experiences being mistaken for Mannion.

Unfortunately for poor Arthur, Mannion shows up and wants to use the pass, which he does, raising complete havoc. He also starts giving Arthur info for the news stories - and the police wonder how it is Arthur knows so much.

One of the funniest parts of the film for me was the newspaper description of Mannion - a cruel mouth, a Neandrathal face, etc., and poor Jones looking at himself in the restaurant mirror trying to look evil.

Robinson is fabulous - so sweet, so gentle, such a hard worker as Arthur and a ruthless killer as Mannion. Jean Arthur, as the outspoken Miss Clark is great - when she's questioned by the police, they assume she's Mannion's accomplice, so they keep asking her questions - who did this, who robbed that, and she keeps saying, using a tough, gun moll voice, "MANNION!" Then they find out it's not Mannion they caught after all.

I thought the movie went on just a tad too long, but otherwise, it was quite good, with fun performances, well directed by a man known for his westerns and bigger films, John Ford.

I saw this movie a long time ago as a teenager during a Edward G. Robinson retrospective. It was the one that stuck in my mind, and I never forgot it. Now I have it on videotape and watch it regularly, it stands multiple viewing very well.

The Whole Town's Talking is one of those perfect little movies. Everything falls into place – the acting, the pace, the timing of the jokes, the dialog. Even the set design is fabulous, it was basically the big, bright office space in which the good guy Robinson plays „slaves" that was unforgettable to me. The movie boasts an assortment of caricature like characters like no other movie I know, beside Robinson I would like to mention Jean Arthur, of course, and the two funny little guys, Donald Meek and, even more memorable, Etienne Girardot as the pedantic office overseer who urges Robinson to get on with the Macintyre account.

In its social comment The Whole Town's Talking reminds me of the work of Preston Sturgess. Mentionable are the media hype about a famous gangster which is really over the top (it's up there with His Girl Friday in this aspect) and the incompetence of the police force which is unable to deal with the gangster and even less with the media and is presented as a helpless and clueless organization. So the movie still has some actuality.

Movie buffs who look at John Ford as an „auteur" may be disappointed. The Whole Town's Talking is very much a product of the studio system. But it amply shows what great things that system was able to accomplish at times!

Enjoyed this 1935 Classic in which Edward G. Robinson plays a duel role as Arthur Ferguson, (Jonesy) and Killer Mannion. Arthur Ferguson is an ordinary law abiding citizen and is rather a very meek person. Unfortunately, Ferguson looks just like a gangster named Killer Mannion who is a harden criminal and they both seem to have the same facial appearance. Jean Arthur, (Wilhelmina Clark) gives a great supporting role along with a great cast of veteran actors. There is a split screen between Arthur Ferguson and Killer Mannion and Edward G. Robinson gives an outstanding performance in 1935 which was not seen very often in films during those days. Killer Mannion tries to murder Ferguson in a bank hold up but things get out of hand. There is plenty of drama and comedy. This is truly a great Classic Film. Enjoy

Edward G. Robinson has been stereotyped to the nth degree as

THE "gangster" (even in Bugs Bunny cartoons!), so it's quite a surprise to see him in the role of a mild, meek clerk (who just happens to be a dead ringer for a gangster!).

The split-screen scenes (where he plays both parts) are excellent & "seamless", and the comedy is heightened by the utterly ridiculous lengths the police go to to catch the gangster!

In one scene, he (as the clerk) is eating lunch in a restaurant, is "spotted" as being the gangster, and within a matter of MINUTES the restaurant is surrounded by HUNDREDS of policeman, riot squads, & machine guns -- all to get the (wrong!) person!

A refreshing comedy; you've got to see this film, if only for Robinson's acting!

Highly enjoyable comedy about meek clerk Arthur Jones (Edward G. Robinson) who is a dead ringer for the most wanted criminal in the country, "Killer" Mannion. Robinson is wonderful in both roles. No matter how many gangster roles he played, he always managed to add something unique to each one. It may just be a mannerism or personality trait, but I feel he managed to distinguish his characters in so many similar movies more than Bogart or Cagney did. Jean Arthur is hilarious and likable as the street smart girl Jones is in love with. Donald Meek is great fun as a busybody who refuses to believe Jones isn't Mannion. It's a rare comedy from director John Ford but a good one.

Edward G. Robinson acted two roles in this movie and did a great job with both of them. He played the meek clerk and the tough gangster equally well.

This is a comedy, so one expects a happy ending; still, I couldn't tell how the plot was going to turn to make this work out well. Even ten minutes before the end I was still wondering.

This comedy is very well worth seeing for the acting by Robinson, the great character actors, and Jean Arthur in the role that Katz' Film Encyclopedia says was the first to show that she had comedic range. The film is directed by John Ford, and is rather uncharacteristic of the type of film he usually did.

John Ford directed this 1935 comedy.

Edward G. Robinson has an absolute field-day in a double role portraying a plain, introverted office worker who is mistaken for a major gangster.

The fun begins when the gangster breaks out of jail and the usually hilarious Donald Meek identifies our poor worker. Jean Arthur co-stars as a fellow office worker.

The confusion goes on and on with the gangster taking refuge at our worker's apartment. The latter has to get a letter from the police to hold onto so that he is not arrested. Later, he is taken in protective custody only to have the real thief take his place so that the latter can knock off someone in jail who has bad-mouthed him.

The ending certainly shows that crime does not pay.

In 1933 Edward G. Robinson had finally essayed a comedy, THE LITTLE GIANT, with passable results. There he tackled the plot of a former racketeer discovering how unworthy the leaders of "good" society could actually be. The same type of a plot would be used again in Robinson's A SLIGHT CASE OF MURDER. But in 1935 Robinson was able to tackle a variant on gangster comedy. It was closer to Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde, as he played good guy wimp Arthur "Jonesy" Jones and public enemy # 1 Killer Mannion. Identical twins, they find they are drawn together by a physical chance. Mannion discovers that Jones looks so like him that he might be able to avoid police surveillance by switching places with Jones (who, for safety sake, won't try to stop him). Jones finds his job at jeopardy, his safety at jeopardy, and his girl friend "Bill" (Jean Arthur) possibly at jeopardy.

There are some choice moments in the film - Ed Brophy, as the chief witness against Mannion, wandering away to his doom accompanied by "Jonesy" (or was it "Jonesy"), and the antics of two particularly dull comic cops (James Donlon and - surprisingly bright in the role - Arthur Hohl). Robinson as patsy and fiend is equally effective, particularly as Mannion decides the time has come to get rid of his harmless doppelganger and take over his place in the world. But will he succeed...or will "Jonesy's" ineptitude and timidity upset his plans.

The director of the film was John Ford - it was his first film with either Robinson (who only showed up again in a supporting part in CHEYENNE AUTUMN)and his only one with Arthur. As such it reminds us of his film ARROWSMITH, which was his only film with Ronald Colman and Helen Hayes. In both cases he did well with his stars, and one wishes he had tried a second major film with Robinson, Arthur, Colman, and Hayes later on. But at least he did make these two films.

John Ford seems an unlikely choice to direct a screwball comedy starring EDWARD G. ROBINSON in a good guy/bad guy dual role as a meek accountant who is mistaken by the public (and the police) for hardened criminal Killer Mannion. Robinson is great in both roles, timid and ineffectual as the meek clerk (Edward Jones) and rough and tough as the crime boss. The scenes between the two Robinsons are extremely well handled for such an early flick. DONALD MEEK has an enjoyable supporting role as a restaurant patron who spots innocent Robinson at a nearby table and reports the find to the police, hoping to get the award money for Killer Mannion's capture.

JEAN ARTHUR is the bouncy office co-worker who becomes friends with Robinson and has a scary encounter with Killer Mannion, after which she tips off the police as to his whereabouts. There are plot turns involving Killer Mannion switching places with clerk Jonesy in order to manage the prison killing of another thug (EDWARD BROPHY). When Robinson's own criminal gang mistakes him for Jonesy in the final sequence, it makes way for a happy ending.

And speaking of happy endings, the last scene has Robinson, Arthur, his pet canary and black cat all steamship bound for Shanghai. Cozy, eh?

Nicely paced comedy/drama still works thanks to the expert direction and fun performances from JEAN ARTHUR, EDW. G. ROBINSON and especially DONALD MEEK, who gets his monetary reward too before the final credits.

Trivia note: Interesting to note that the story is based on something by W.R. Burnett (he wrote "Treasure of the Sierra Madre"). Doesn't seem like his type of material.

John Ford directs this comedy/crime yarn about a mild mannered office clerk(Edward G. Robinson)being mistaken for a public enemy, 'Killer Mannion'. Robinson is outstanding in both roles and very impressive with his deadpan humor. There is a talented supporting cast that includes: Jean Arthur, Wallace Ford and John Donlan.

This is an atypical and impersonal Ford film. Given the studio (Columbia Pictures) and the screenwriter (Robert Riskin), this is an ideal stuff for Frank Capra. But it remains without a doubt one of the most enjoyable and pleasurable comedies ever made. It features graceful dynamism and vibrancy that are rare in the Ford oeuvre. It is also one of his fastest movies. It contains what it is probably one of the finest Edward G. Robinson performances I have seen. He is outstanding in the dual role of a mild, working class office clerk Arthur Ferguson Jones who is mistaken for a ruthless mobster Mannion (the role he perfected in "Little Caesar"). And then there is the lovely Jean Arthur as Robinson's coolly self-reliant co-worker, who starts by pitying him and then encourages him, and ultimately falls in love with him. She and Robinson are superb together. It is nowhere near her splendid presence in Mitchell Leisen's "Easy Living" and Frank Borzage's "History Is Made at Night", but this was the sort of role Arthur was to make of her own.

A must-see!

Arthur Ferguson Jones (Edward G. Robinson) is a meek studious clerk. He's late to work for the first time. His supervisor had been told to give him a raise but is also told to fire the next person late to work. Wilhelmina Clark (Jean Arthur) walks in right after Jones and gets fired. Then she notices a $25k reward for escaped criminal Killer Mannion who happens to look exactly like Jones.

The premise is great. Of course, the duo Robinsons is inevitable. There is an issue with leverage. Without leverage, the story stops making sense. The easiest solution would be to have Jones kidnapped and simply have Mannion pretend to be Jones all the while. One thing is for sure. I never knew that John Ford made screwball comedy. Robinson is having fun with the duo roles.

It's just amazing...if he'd wanted to, Ford could've given Sturges or Hawks a run for their money. He throws himself into the timing, the riffs. And it's got that whole 30's look: fantastic back-lot town, millions of extras, Vorkapich-y montage sequence. Arthur is hysterical in her "Mannion" sequence. Both she and Robinson are brilliantly directed. And this film makes Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street possible. Who was Robinson to evoke this kind of split character so often? Tough guy, art collector...I'm not one to spend as much time with the stories of actors as the stories of directors. But it's interesting - he puts the apron on here and "feminizes" himself just like in Scarlet Street. The economy and understatement of the scene where Slugs Martin is killed is perhaps the most "Fordian" moment of the film. The chilling quality of what is not shown looks forward to films like The Searchers. By the way, I find it funny that the gangster character uses possessive pronouns before his gerunds. I guess they were better educated then...

The Whole Town's Talking (1935) : Brief Review -

If Shakespeare was to make a "Crime Thriller Comedy Of Errors!" The double role formula couldn't have looked better, and nobody could've done better than Edward G. Robinson. So, it's a John Ford film. A legend that doesn't need any introduction or explanation. But after watching this film, you'll say that it's Edward G. Robinson's film all the way. The list of my top favourite classics of John Ford is pretty long, but when I look at the list, I find the top 5 or 10 have a heavy theme. I never imagined a Ford flick to be a good comedy, so The Whole Town's Talking surprised me in that way. That double role formula, mostly inspired by Shakespeare's Comedy of Errors, has been used in hundreds of films, but believe you me, it never looked differently better than this. It was always about lost brothers or two lookalikes coming together, but was it ever about crime thrillers? Then or later? Scarcely yes, but this film was made much before any film you'll name. A meek milquetoast of a clerk is mistaken for public enemy number 1, and the notorious killer takes advantage of the situation. Funnily enough, the advantage works for the clerk too, as he gets fame, money, and a girl too. But never forget that there are always consequences. I can just go on praising and listing Edward G. Robinson's finest performances, and it will not end with anything less than this entire review, and this film adds another feather to his cap. What a legend and what a suave performer. Jean Arthur is savagely cute - that's some rare combo for her. A big shout out to the technical brilliance of the film. All those scenes that have two Edwards in a single frame are simply remarkable. That mirror one is Outstanding! I don't know how the team and John Ford managed it, but let me take a moment and salute the entire team for their splendid work. Overall, something really worth watching.

RATING - 7.5/10*

By - #samthebestest.

This was a terrific movie. Edward G. Robinson was incredibly convincing as Jones and Mannion. Jean Arthur was excellent as Wilhemina Clark. Incredible cast, great suspense, seamless special effects, an all-around classic movie!

Edward G. Robinson is such an awesome actor & he shows it all in this fine film. He plays his typical bad boy gangster side as well as a humble bachelor/office worker and on top of that he can play each of these characters switching roles. Not many actors can pull off this feat and be believable at the same time.

Of course we get to enjoy the young Jean Arthur also & she's always a joy to watch. She brings fun and realism to each role she plays.

The film had all guns loaded going into it with the screenplay written by Robert Riskin & Jo Swerling based on a story by W.R.Burnett and directed (& co-produced) by John Ford.

I thoroughly enjoyed this film!!

I've been trying to track down this old Hollywood feature for nearly 40 years since I first saw and loved it. Of course it's not quite as wonderful as my childhood self remembers it but it's still a delightful movie I was more than pleased to watch again. In particular I remembered Edward G Robinson's meek Arthur Jones character's line, emboldened by his first experience of alcohol and a cigar, that a woman was just a woman but a good cigar was a smoke, great stuff!

The inventive plot has Robinson's timid office worker sharing the face of a notorious gun- toting gangster, Killer Mannion, causing initially confusion but later consternation amongst the local police and press as Mannion forcibly takes possession of the pass-letter given to Jones by the D.A. to differentiate them, to rub out a rival gangster in prison, almost literally a licence to kill.

At Jones's side, egging him onto acts of valour, is the vivacious Jean Arthur before she unwittingly falls into Mannion's hands but in a final twist, the mouse roars and all is resolved happily for ever after as Jones gets the girl, his life back and his long-desired trip to China before the end credits.

Robinson is wonderful in the twin parts, firstly parodying his hard-nosed gangster roles of earlier years, most notably as Rico in "Little Caesar", with the lily-livered accounts clerk Jones before effortlessly turning into the hard-nosed murdering crime-lord of Mannion. I loved the scene where the doppelgängers unexpectedly first meet, director Ford employing some inventive double exposure technique to get them both in shot. The writing too is sharp and with some good gags too. The film is relatively untypical of John Ford, being a fast-moving screwball comedy but he directs with verve and timing and helped by the fine playing of his cast, particularly the leads, makes it a winning movie all round.

I really liked this film. The film has a lot of depth and yet has been mostly forgotten today. It just goes to prove that Edward G. Robinson can do more than just play the gangster. In fact, in this movie he plays BOTH a gangster and a wimpy middle-aged man who LOOKS like the gangster.

The movie does not really show the mad dog gangster much but centers on the wimpier character who is often mistreated and under-appreciated by those around him. When, by chance, he is mistaken for the mobster, the fun begins and it all works together for a charming little 1930s Hollywood ending.

Robert Osborne, the host of Turner Classic Movies, could sell me sand in a desert.

I saw that this film was coming on, was intrigued by the fact that it starred Edward G. Robinson and Jean Arthur, two of my favorite actors, and was even more excited after Osborne's introduction of it. But then I watched the movie itself, and nearly fell asleep. It's o.k., but it's certainly nothing special, and fellow Jean Arthur fans should be warned that her credit is a bit of a tease -- she drops out mid-way through the film and is barely even seen in half of it.

Edward G. Robinson gets to have some fun playing two characters -- a criminal mastermind and the meek officer worker who just happens to look exactly like him. This premise is meant to be screwball, but John Ford proves that screwball comedy is not his forte.

Grade: B-

As much as I love Edward G. and Jean Arthur the truth is this film is a chore to sit through. I don't doubt that in 1935 audiences were enthralled with the gimmick of the same actor not only playing two different roles but - through the miracle of special effects - acting with himself in the same scene. But viewed today, unfortunately, it's just that: a tired gimmick that's been done so many times (think "Parent Trap") it's virtually impossible to adopt the unjaundiced mind-set of a pre-WWII audience member. The makers of this film seem very satisfied with themselves for being able to pull it off, and perhaps justifiably, but there's precious little else to the film. It suffers from extremely poor pacing, botched editing, a shortage of quality jokes (for long stretches it plays like a drama not a comedy) and "yell at the screen" size plot holes. I have too much respect for John Ford to suggest that he's simply the wrong man to helm such lightweight fare, but at this stage of his career and with Hollywood in general still adapting to the advent of sound, he's clearly not at the top of his game. The film desperately needs more zip and here he's either unable or unwilling to supply it.

Arthur's gangster moll put-on while under police interrogation is a highlight, but personally I felt the film was stolen by two delightful character actors: Etienne Girardot as a diminutive, dutiful office manager obsessed with the "McAntire Account" despite all of the wild events unfolding around him; and Donald Meek as a clueless, high-voiced gentlemen who keeps getting in the way of the police. Hilariously they keep swatting him aside as if he were a pesky fly, but he stubbornly asserts himself time and time again. In one funny scene he timidly doffs his hat when re-introducing himself to the police - though he's talking to them by phone. Amusingly, the detective hangs up on him mid-sentence.

Otherwise the picture has way too many dead spots - most of the comedy is strained. If you want to see Edward G. in top form spoofing his gangster image check out the side splitting "Larceny Inc."