Toute la ville en parle

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 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.

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.

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!