It Happens Every Thursday

As a long-time and former journalist, I was hooked early when a character bought a copy of the magazine "Editor & Publisher," the bible of the newspaper industry -- or it was then. And was into the many years of my being in the industry. (I even wrote an article for it.) But it might not even exist now, since newspapers themselves are dying like the proverbial flies, or cutting days of publication from seven to as few as three.

What the magazine-buying character found was an ad selling a small-town weekly, the owning of which, at one time, was many a journalist's dream.

And, for some, maybe for many, the dream still exists, although it is probably more difficult now to make a living with such a publication.

Many of the difficulties shown in this movie are drawn from real life. People will not subscribe. People will not advertise.

But they by gosh expect to have their stories covered, their clubs, their sewing circles, their engagements and weddings, their schools, their churches. "And be sure to spell my name right this time: It's 'D-O-W.' With a 'D' and not a 'C.' "

(I once misspelled "Raul" as "Raoul," French vs. the correct Spanish. First rule: ASK the spelling, especially names.)

When a farmer complained about no coverage for the drought, he expressed a valid complaint. With an almost non-existent staff, a paper might not be able to cover much outside the nearest neighborhoods around the paper's office.

The editor's response here is rather extreme, even for California, and takes the story out of the mundane.

The cast in this Universal Picture is top of the line, and they are handed some excellent well-written dialogue.

I highly recommend "It Happens Every Thursday," a very good copy of which is available at YouTube.

Most newspaper men and women who worked in the 20th century would probably be quick to catch the title of this film. "It Happens Every Thursday" refers to the getting out of a weekly newspaper. Even well into the 21st century, the U.S. alone had some 7,000 non-daily newspapers. Most of these are weekly, although a few publish two or three times per week.

At one time around the middle of the 20th century, it was common for harried news reporters on big city papers to dream about having their own small town weekly paper where they could settle down and raise their family in peace. Or, so the dream life seemed. This movie gives a good look at what that life could really be like.

Loretta Young and John Forsythe star as the couple who take their family from the big city to a small town to own and run their own paper. The film shows the challenges of running a small town paper, and of new owners struggling to make it work.

In this case, a strong love between the couple, and their growing family, add to a plot that mixes some comedy with drama. The film has a fine supporting cast. It's an enjoyable film that's suitable for the whole family. However, some modern audiences may find it slow.

Here are a couple favorite lines from the film.

Jane MacAvoy, "And Mrs. Spatch." Mrs. Eva Spatch, "Huh?" Jane, "I don't know what I would've done without you." Mrs. Spatch, "Ah, child. You see, the trouble with you is you were raised in a big city. You wanted something; you just called up and got it. Well, around here there's not so many of us. So, whoever can, does."

Bob MacAvoy and Jane pass each other as he rushes out to lead a Boy Scout meeting. Bob says, "I love you." Jane MacAvoy, "Scout's honor?" Bob, holding up three fingers, "Scout's honor."

Loretta Young and John Forsythe both do fine work here, as does the entire supporting cast, all of which are very good really. The basic story is solid enough too, but the script just isn't funny or witty enough to create the humor and engagement intended. As such the overall effect is a bit flat. Still there are enough moments in It Happens Every Thursday to check it out if your interested/curious.

John Forsythe, pregnant wife Loretta Young, and their son leave New York and his newspaper grind to take over a small town newspaper in California. There they struggle with small circulation, bad finances and a suspicious local crowd.

It's an innocuous, light-hearted drama that breaks no new ground, one of the utterly banal near-comedies of the era. Where it excels is in its wealth of supporting actors, including Edgar Buchanan as yet another big-hearted printer, Jimmy Conlin, Frank McHugh, Jane Darwell, Gladys George, Regis Toomey, and even Francis Ford in his next-to-last movie.

Better known as John Ford's brother, Francis had started out in movies as part of the Melies company in Texas doing cowboy pictures. By 1915, he and Grace Cunard were major players on the Universal lot, doing serials, adventure pictures, often with Ford directing. When brother John came out west, Francis got him work on the lot. Ford continued as a supporting player through the 1930s, but eventually was reduced to bits in his brother's pictures. In all, he made almost five hundred shorts and features as a performer, 180 as a director. He died the year this picture came out, aged 72.

This is a charming film made back when films could be made just to be charming. It is the story of a big city couple that move to a small town to run the little weekly paper there. They find that their big city way of thinking can get them in trouble with small town minds and mores! I especially liked their photo file; when they wanted a picture of an arrogant citizen the only one on file was of him as a baby-naked on a bearskin rug! This film is another that I would love to see restored and made available on DVD.