Party Wire

If you didn't grow up in a town like this, you might think the plot was exaggerated, and that people didn't really act like this. But they did. From the old man with his jug to all the members of the First Self Righteous church, these are all characters from my home town. Even the party line was familiar, but these old gossips didn't need the party line to spread gossip about every one in town. And it didn't need to be anything specific, just a whiff of anything different, and they were all off baying like hounds.

I was very unhappy that there was no real chemistry between the leads in this movie. I have seen Victor Jory as Indians and as every sort of criminal, but as a romantic lead he is a total dud. A handsome profile, a great voice, but as snake eyed as they come, and I kept waiting for him to hiss. A shame Jean Arthur didn't have someone more attractive to play opposite her.

Most 1930's and 1940's films portray small town America as some kind of Heaven on earth where your neighbor will give you their last dime and everybody loves everybody and are all model citizens. PARTY WIRE, an overlooked gem from 1935, blows that illusion to smitterheens and may be closer to the truth. Small towns can breed small minds and the horrors of gossips who tell tales they don't really care if they are true or not is vividly brought to life is this amazing comedy drama.

Victor Jory stars as the scion of the small town's wealthiest family who returns to town for an extended stay. His return is big news for the locals, many of whom have daughters they would like to see Jory marry. When Jory begins to squire local farm girl Jean Arthur, the inner green-eyed monster flares in the local old prudes and when via habit of listening in on phone calls on the town's party line they overhear Arthur's father make an angry phone call to a local boy they are all abuzz, concluding the guy has knocked up Jean.

This starts a tidal wave of gossip and venom as poor Jean gets fired from her job and is completely snubbed by the town folk, who stick a baby carriage with a nasty note on her doorstep and disqualify her from winning a local event for no reason. When Jory learns of their maliciousness, he vows to make the town pay for their viciousness and financially ruin them all.

The cast of this film is outstanding. Jean Arthur at the very beginning of the major era of her career is wonderful as the unpretentious sweetie who has what it takes to charm the most wanted man in town. Victor Jory has one of his rare leading man roles - he was most often cast as a villain, notably in GONE WITH THE WIND - but he is excellent and thoroughly credible both as the man everyone admires and the hero out for vengeance. The supporting cast is superb - Charley Grapewin as Jean's slightly absent-minded father, Maude Eburne as one of the biggest gossips in town but most especially Clara Blandick as the queen bee of this hick town who conjures all the trouble. Miss Blandick is best remembered for her loving Auntie Em in THE WIZARD OF OZ but she had no peers when it came to portraying the small town bitch matron - she plowed similar territory as Janet Gaynor's sneering aunt in A STAR IS BORN.

This is a fine looking Columbia film that belies it's modest budget. PARTY WIRE is possibly the best of Jean Arthur's early starring films and is highly recommended.

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.

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.