Important News

A great little short film about a small town newspaper and the decision by its editor on what stories to put on the front page. Should it be a story that is surely to get national attention or a local story for the townsfolk? This film is really short, about 10 minutes long!! Maybe that is why "Chic" Sales is tolerable in this film!! LOL This film is known mostly for an early James Stewart performance, but I was happy to see one of my favorite actors in it--Charles Trowbridge!! He plays "Ed", in an uncredited role. It is always nice to see one of his films. Try and catch it next time it is on television.

Chic Sales runs a weekly newspaper out in the middle of nowhere. It's a newspaper which carries the weather as front-page news because some of the subscribers are farmers without radios. When Sales is an eyewitness to gangster "Pretty Face" Wilson (intended to be "Pretty Boy" Floyd) being gunned down on Main Street, he keeps the weather on the front page and puts the slaying in the obituaries.

It's a homespun short about small-town values, a bit far away from MGM's usual values. However, they thought they had a new star in Sales, and for a while they did.

You may also be amused to find Jimmy Stewart as Sales' typesetter. You may find him a little hard to spot, given he's wearing glasses. His voice, however, is unmistakable.

An MGM MINIATURE Short Subject.

The editor of the Cole County Clarion must decide what is the real IMPORTANT NEWS for his readers: an impending frost which may spell disaster to their crops, or the sensational shooting-down of a notorious gangster on their small town main street.

This is an enjoyable little one-reeler, featuring a good performance by comic Charles `Chic' Sale. Today's viewers will perhaps be more interested in the appearance of uncredited James Stewart, as Sale's nephew/assistant. Slow talking & somewhat goofy, Stewart shows many of the attributes which would make him a huge star in a very short time.

Often overlooked or neglected today, the one and two-reel short subjects were useful to the Studios as important training grounds for new or burgeoning talents, both in front & behind the camera. The dynamics for creating a successful short subject was completely different from that of a feature length film, something like writing a topnotch short story rather than a novel. Economical to produce in terms of both budget & schedule and capable of portraying a wide range of material, short subjects were the perfect complement to the Studios' feature films.

Important News (1936)

*** (out of 4)

James Stewart has a supporting role in this MGM short. A small town editor (Charles 'Chic' Sale) must decide, which story to put on the front page of his newspaper. One story is a famous gangster being shot down in front of his eyes, which would get attention across the country. The second story is a frost warning that would only help those few people in his city that don't have a radio. This is certainly a short meant to tell a morals story and on that level it works even though one-reel doesn't give it too much time for a stronger story. The message is pretty much cut and dry but Sale gives a pretty good performance that makes the film watchable. The young Stewart, in his sixth film, also does a pretty good job and manages to get a few laughs. There's certainly nothing great or ground breaking about this film but it is fun for what it is. This was Lawrence's only film as director.

To print or not to be print--that's the dilemma facing newspaper editor CHARLIE SALE when he has to choose between a headline that becomes a matter of priorities for him. Should he do the tabloid headline about Pretty Face Wilson gunned down in the street, or should he do the farmers a favor and print the one about a frost warning?

Depends on what someone thinks is "important news." What matters here is that this is a very stale, very inadequate short overacted by Charlie Sale and presenting JAMES STEWART in a very subordinate role as a hick assistant who wears a dumb expression and mumbles his way through a small role, looking rather detached until he sees a man being gunned down in the street. Not exactly a standout part for Stewart.

Very forgettable little short without any style at all.