All Over the Town

Superlative depiction of small town English life, postwar. Not to be taken lightly ...though the conflicts are shrouded in a comedic fashion, the message about integrity and courage in the midst of low down, mean spirited adversity can and, just, maybe should be taken seriously. Curious characters as well as the stereotyped dwell here...yet, even the stereotyped---because of the quaint datedness of the production---just not that way in the 21st century.

What prompted me to even register, here, and vote and, then comment on this movie, was the incredible performance and beauty of Sarah Churchill. Simply a modern day competitor to Blanchette, Streep, et.al

Made at Pinewood Studios, this British film was produced by a small film company that made just a dozen or so movies from 1949 to 1962. As with most such films and endeavors, the cast of "All Over the Town" doesn't have big name stars or even well-known supporting actors of the time. Most of the cast will hardly be recognized in the 21st century outside of the UK. The female lead, Sally Thorpe, is played by Sarah Churchill, the actress daughter of Winston Churchill. She had a respectable career as an actress, and had a good supporting role with Fred Astaire, Jane Powell and Peter Lawford in "Royal Wedding" of 1951. Overall, the ensemble of characters in this film does a fine job.

The story is set in a fictitious town on the English coast. The promo for the film plays up exposure of some corruption in the small town of Tormouth, but that is just a small part that serves as the climax to the story. The film is about a town native returning home after the war and getting his job back as the "star" reporter on the weekly Clarion newspaper. Such weekly papers were printed in small towns all across Canada, the U. S. A., England and many other European countries through the 20th century. With the coming of the Internet and rapid growth of electronic technology, many small papers went out of business by the early 21st century. Even large daily papers have declined as print news readership overall continues to decline.

Norman Wooland plays the returning veteran, Nat Hearn. Sarah Churchill's Sally Thorpe is the local reporter who had taken over for Nat when he went off to military service during the war. The plot is a good mix of light comedy, drama and a slowly developing love story. It portrays the type of reporting, news, and printing of the local nature that the big city newspapers don't provide - or even consider news. By the same token, the small towns and weekly papers are challenged to have much of real news to report. Changes occur after Nat's return and the death of the publisher of the town paper.

Very few films have been made with weekly newspaper production a core part of the story. So, this film has some added value for history and education. The small papers as well as the dailies in county seats for ages have been the official public records of local government actions and required pubic notices. As a former newspaperman, having worked on two daily newspapers, I particularly enjoyed the scenes showing some of the antiquated printing presses used in the past - including an old flatbed press and an ancient hand press.

This is a nice picture of the small-town press and its role and service in the community. Its regular fodder includes the vital statistics (birth, deaths), accidents and illnesses, local visits, social events, family items, legal notices, sports and club activities and reviewing the local theater production and covering the town council meetings.

Here are some favorite lines from this film.

Mr. Baines, "Glad to see you got back. But you've been long enough about it." Nat Hearn, "Yes, just tidying up the Orient, you know." Baines, "Uh, huh, this town needs a bit of tidying up too, come to that. But, uh, things are moving."

Mr. Baines, "Progress with taste - that's my motto. Progress with taste."

Mr. Vince, "You make him, miss. He'll listen to a skirt."

Sally Thorpe, "Why don't you chuck it and get out?" Nat Hearn, "Because it's not the answer. There's nothing wrong with the people. They're the same town that fought the war. All they want is someone to take an interest in their own affairs. Anything wrong with that?" Sally, "Nothing. Only I'm afraid you're in for a big disappointment." Nat, "Perhaps I am."

Sally Thorpe, "You're a bit of a mystery to me. You oughtn't be a nice person at all, but you are. Rather." Nat Hearn, "I just believe in people, that's all. Seems a pity you don't."

Nat Hearn, "Detail, Trumble, detail. Never despise detail. It's our meat, drink, bread, butter, salt, pepper and mustard."

An enjoyable little frolic set against the backdrop of a local newspaper reminiscent of the Ealing comedies (and anticipating 'Chance of a Lifetime' and the offbeat sixties Norman Wisdom comedy 'Press for Time') enhanced by attractive location photography of Lyme Regis standing in for the the fictional seaside town of 'Tormouth' where the underdogs take on the fusty and venal establishment.

Broad-faced Norman Wolland and sloe-eyed Sarah Churchill are attractively unconventional young leads, while Cyril Cusack is cast spectacularly against time as a fussy little capitalist lacky. (As usual there are also interesting faces among those unbilled, including future TV stars Patrick ('The Avengers') Macnee and Eric ('Please Sir') Chitty.)

First the good news: lovely photography of Lime Regis in summer. But the bad news is that a number of things let this film down. Firstly the lead - Norman Moreland, a tall handsome classical actor but without star quality or personality. Secondly a lack of wit and sensitivity in the screenplay. Thirdly a rather unsympathetic plot.

I'm not sure if the resemblance was coincidental but Moreland physically and in the clothing closely resembles actor James Stewart and the film and part resemble - but fall far short of - a number of classic James Stewart comedies. The difference is that Stewart's screen persona was perfectly served by the scripts: the audience's sympathies and emotions perfectly manipulated. Here the screenplay is, like the main characters, rather clumsy and not really sympathetic. The female lead (Sarah Churchill) too was all set to marry Moreland but angrily rejects him when she discovers that marriage will not provide her an escape to London. Ealing comedies would never have been so clumsy with characters. Even the "villains" (Fabia Drake and James Hayter - always exceedingly good) in this film had more personality and in a way more engaging and certainly more entertaining than the two do-gooders who while they blast open the small town cronyism and corruption, are in their way intolerant overbearing know-alls. It perhaps though accurately reflected the times with division between those who spent the war at home unchanging provincial narrowness and those whom the war was transformative - seeing the world, seeing and having responsibility for decisions over life and death. The screenplay needed to have sketched this rather than assume the audience necessarily knew and were sympathetic.

Some reviews of the time were uncommonly uncomplimentary: "The New York Times described it as a "slow, dogmatic little picture" with a "dog-eared" plot. In The Times, the film's plot was seen as unoriginal, executed "without inspiration or any originality of thought" (Wikipedia) The criticism of the plot seems though unduly harsh - a film about the (local) press being in bed with advertisers and business interests the local people overturning it is not a common one.

A 6.5 - it could have been an 8. Moreland as an actor performed the script he was given but added nothing. A star such as Kenneth More would most likely have seen a need for changes to it. It's what made "Genevieve" such a classic - More played a loud selfish and insensitive man often maddening his wife - but with periodic self-awareness and redeeming charm - script and actor in perfect harmony.

An RAF pilot returns to his job as a newspaper reporter in a small seaside town. At first he questions the importance of writing about the local goings on, but after unexpectedly becoming the editor, he decides to use the paper for the betterment of the community. In the process, he finds himself romantically involved with the woman who filled his job while he was serving in the war. This is a droll comedy that falls somewhere between Frank Capra and Preston Sturges in it's take on small town British life. All the characters are nicely written and acted, with a vein of dry wit running throughout the film (the local undertaker in particular). Fans of "The Avengers" can spot Patrick MacNee in a small role. If you're a fan of the Ealing comedies, this would be a "must see". It is, in any case, an entertaining and uplifting film.