Home Town Story (1951)

Average programmer to fill the bottom of a double bill with Jeffrey Lynn his usual dull blank slate in the lead. He actually gives the film's worst performance not helping the meager story in the least. Somehow they managed to wrangle Oscar winner Donald Crisp into a brief appearance, his last on screen work for three years-of course if this was the quality of stuff being offered no wonder he took a break, he's far better than this run of the mill junk deserves. The real interest and the only reason the film is sought out today is for the presence in the cast of Marilyn Monroe and to a much lesser extent Gilligan's Island's Skipper, Alan Hale Jr. Marilyn very much on the way up, her billing is far more prominent than the small part she plays would rate for anyone else, would play a few more minor roles like this throughout 1951. Within the year though she would be a minor star and within two a superstar permanently moving beyond this kind of routine assignment. She looks beautiful and handles the minimal demands of her secretary role well enough but she has a total of no more than five minutes screen time.Strictly for those who are interested in seeing all of Marilyn's work, no matter how minor.

"Jeffrey Lynn plays an ex-politician who blames big business for his failure to get re-elected. To expose big business as an evil monster he joins his uncle's newspaper. When his little sister is caught in a cave-in, the town's largest company comes to her aid and he must now reconsider" his opposition to corporate America. Mr. Lynn (as Blake Washburn) and Marjorie Reynolds (as Janice Hunt) would have been better off playing the parents of the girl - what the heck were they doing before his five years in the Army and two in the State Capitol? Best friendly Alan Hale Jr. (as Slim Haskins) and sagely Donald Crisp (as John MacFarland) serve very workmanlike supporting parts. Mr. Crisp gets to end a speech with director/writer Arthur Pierson's obtuse observation, "When this country was first discovered, there was nothing here." Marilyn Monroe (as Iris Martin) has a relatively small, but pointed, secretarial role. It probably goes without saying that Ms. Monroe's occasional appearances, in close-fitting attire, are the film's highlights.** Home Town Story (5/18/51) Arthur Pierson ~ Jeffrey Lynn, Alan Hale Jr., Marilyn Monroe, Marjorie Reynolds

The cover of this DVD caught my eye as I was walking by the bargain bin. Being a Marilyn fan I was caught by the large "Starring Marilyn Monroe" on the cover along with an equally large photo of a young Marilyn. I decided for $3.99 it was worth buying.I'm not sure if this constitutes a "spoiler" or not, but Marilyn is in 3 scenes and speaks 3 1/2 (maybe 4) lines of dialog. Not exactly what I'd call a "starring" role. But then, she is wearing tight sweaters in her scenes, so I wasn't totally disappointed (there, I said it).It was also nice seeing The Skipper (Alan Hale Jr.) wearing something other then a blue shirt and a captain's hat.Being only about an hour long (it was the first half of a double feature, the other half being a James Cagney film), I didn't feel like I had wasted time seeing the movie. In fact, the story really wasn't that bad, the packaging was just a little misleading.

(spoilers?)All the elements are there. Down home guy who seems to be sweet, goes on a rampage without thought because he felt he was duped. Suddenly changes his heart. Hmmm where've I heard that before. And hey it's only 5 yrs after words.The acting is okay, and the movie is really paced very well. It makes 60 minutes sound just as good as some 120 minute long movies. Simply because there is a lot of story thrown in it's 60 minutes. I liked seeing some of the old printing press stuff. And it's surprisingly watchable. I'll likely watch this one again. But the story is like been there done that all over.6/10Quality: 8/10 Entertainment: 4/10 Replayable: 8/10