A Stranger in Town
A Stranger in Town
NR | 01 April 1943 (USA)
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In the small town of Crownport local attorney Bill Adams is trying to break up the ring of corrupt town officials by running for mayor. The cards seemed stacked against him when he gets help from a visiting hunter who, unknown to Adams and the rest of the town, is actually vacationing supreme court justice John Josephus Grant.

Reviews
Exoticalot

People are voting emotionally.

Humbersi

The first must-see film of the year.

Micah Lloyd

Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

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Janae Milner

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

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utgard14

Good "B" picture starring Frank Morgan as a Supreme Court justice who goes on a hunting trip. He winds up becoming entangled with a small town's crooked politicians. Unassuming drama has a slight Frank Capra feel to it. Morgan is very good in a subdued performance. Richard Carlson plays the young lawyer who seems to be the only one in town that wants to stand up to the corrupt politicians. Robert Barrat, Porter Hall, Donald MacBride and company make amusing villains. Jean Rogers is the pretty love interest for Carlson. Pleasant cast and an earnest script. Short runtime helps. This is an entertaining hidden gem you should definitely check out if you get the chance.

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kalibeans

Looking for something to watch on a Friday evening while feeling ill I ran across this wonderful little gem I had dvr'd earlier in the week solely because it had Frank Morgan AND Richard Carlson. My mind wanted to see The Wizard of Oz meets the man who fights The Creature from the Black Lagoon and how well they would be together! TCM had given it only 3 stars so I was not expecting much and the first 90% of the film was entertaining enough, a solid 3 star movie. Amusing to envision a time when a Supreme Court Justice would not be instantly recognized by the Mayberry-esque type town mayor and judge (even if the quaint town does have some shady goings on). No googling in that day and age! Then we reach the last 10 minutes of the film. Which if I could rate the film ONLY on those last 10 minutes it would be a solid 5 stars. Frank Morgan delivers a speech that will move and inspire you. Gave me chills to hear a monologue from a man written and spoken over 60 years ago that could be a headline of this evenings news. The problems he spoke about are exactly the problems our nation is facing today. Touched me so profoundly I played it over and over until I got every word written down and then posted it online to my friends. Bottom line, a nice enough little film from the early 40's with a magnificent ending. Worth watching with your children for not only does it address some current political problems but also bullying.

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MartinHafer

Oddly, this film stars Frank Morgan as a Supreme Court justice! He's on vacation and runs afoul of a small town's corrupt administration. The crooked judge, mayor and their henchmen don't realize who Morgan is, so he's able to see first-hand their under-handed tactics. Because of their abuse of political power, Morgan decides to stick around and assist a naive young lawyer (Richard Carlson) in his bid to become mayor. At first, they are pretty much ignored, though in time, when the race for mayor seems tight, the old mayor unleashed a wave of dirty tricks--not realizing that Morgan holds the ultimate trump card.I had a hard time deciding whether to score this one a 7 or an 8. It was very good--particularly for a B-movie. Being a "B", it is a relatively short picture (only 67 minutes) but unlike many Bs it has excellent production values (especially the writing) and is very entertaining. About the only knock against it is that I thought the fight scenes were a bit too "slapsticky" and didn't exactly integrate well into the rest of the picture. Still, it's a dandy performance by Frank Morgan, as he's more restrained (i.e., less "hammy") than in most of his starring vehicles--well worth seeing and a lot of fun--as well as a decent civics lesson.

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mrb1980

Frank Morgan discards his "confused middle-aged guy" persona to star in this moralistic, yet fine early 1940s film. Morgan plays the role of John Josephus Grant, an associate justice of the U.S. Supreme Court. Grant is overworked, and takes a hunting trip to Crownport, a typical small town. Here he quickly becomes embroiled in corrupt local politics, headed by a very crooked and despicable local judge (Porter Hall). He teams up with his secretary (Jean Rogers) and a local mayoral candidate (Richard Carlson) to overcome the bad guys and clean up the town. Of course, there's an obligatory love story, involving the characters of Rogers and Carlson.Morgan takes full advantage of this rare top-billed role and gives a warm and believable performance. Rogers is also in top form, while Carlson is just average in an average role. Morgan's rousing speech to the local townsfolk about American government may seem a little overripe today, but is perfect in the context of a WWII-era movie. It's also fun to watch the town's corrupt bosses squirm when they find out Morgan's true identity. This film's a reflection of a long-ago time when people generally trusted our political institutions.

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