The following is a guest post by Jenny Paxson of the Packard Campus.
Thursday, January 11 (7:30 p.m.)
The Talk of the Town (Columbia, 1942)
While school teacher Nora Shelley (Jean Arthur) is preparing her summer rental house for a straight-laced law professor (Ronald Colman), she discovers escaped political prisoner and former classmate Leopold Dilg (Cary Grant) hiding out in the attic. Nora passes Dilg off as her gardener and the two men become good friends as well as romantic rivals for Nora’s affection. Producer/director George Stevens left audiences guessing until the last minute whether Jean Arthur’s character would chose Grant or Colman and in fact filmed two endings leaving the outcome up to preview audiences. This clever film about romance and justice, a blend of the serious and lighthearted, exemplified the trend toward “social themed” films that arose in the 40s. The Talk of the Town earned seven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture of the year. A Screen Snapshots short subject from 1942 will precede the feature.
For more information on our programs, please visit the website at: www.loc.gov/avconservation/theater/.