It's just amazing...if he'd wanted to, Ford could've given Sturges or Hawks a run for their money. He throws himself into the timing, the riffs. And it's got that whole 30's look: fantastic back-lot town, millions of extras, Vorkapich-y montage sequence. Arthur is hysterical in her "Mannion" sequence. Both she and Robinson are brilliantly directed. And this film makes Woman in the Window and Scarlet Street possible. Who was Robinson to evoke this kind of split character so often? Tough guy, art collector...I'm not one to spend as much time with the stories of actors as the stories of directors. But it's interesting - he puts the apron on here and "feminizes" himself just like in Scarlet Street. The economy and understatement of the scene where Slugs Martin is killed is perhaps the most "Fordian" moment of the film. The chilling quality of what is not shown looks forward to films like The Searchers. By the way, I find it funny that the gangster character uses possessive pronouns before his gerunds. I guess they were better educated then...
Review of The Whole Town's Talking
