The Whole Town's Talking
| The Whole Town's Talking | |
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1935 theatrical poster
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| Directed by | John Ford |
| Produced by | John Ford Lester Cowan (uncredited) |
| Screenplay by |
Jo Swerling Robert Riskin |
| Based on |
Jail Breaker Collier's (1932) by W.R. Burnett |
| Starring |
Edward G. Robinson Jean Arthur |
| Music by |
Uncredited: Mischa Bakaleinikoff Louis Silvers |
| Cinematography | Joseph H. August |
| Edited by | Viola Lawrence |
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Production
company |
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| Distributed by | Columbia Pictures |
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Release date
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Running time
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93 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
The Whole Town's Talking (released in the UK as Passport to Fame) is a 1935 American comedy film starring Edward G. Robinson as a law-abiding man who bears a striking resemblance to a killer, with Jean Arthur as his love interest. It was directed by John Ford from a screenplay by Jo Swerling and Robert Riskin based on a story by W.R. Burnett originally published in Collier's in August 1932. Burnett was also the author of the source material for Robinson's screen break-through, Little Caesar. The film The Whole Town's Talking (1926) has no story connection to this film. The story was remade in 1998 as the Bollywood film Duplicate.
Arthur Ferguson Jones (Edward G. Robinson) and Wilhelmina "Bill" Clark (Jean Arthur) work at the same advertising firm. Jones turns out to look exactly like the notorious bank robber "Killer" Mannion (also Robinson) and is apprehended by the police.
After his true identity is confirmed, the district attorney gives Jones a letter identifying him, so that he can avoid the same trouble in future. Jones becomes a local celebrity and, at the behest of his boss (Paul Harvey), begins ghost-writing Mannion's "autobiography", with good-natured but street-wise Wilhelmina voluntarily acting as his "talent agent" to see that he gets paid.
Mannion decides to take advantage of his mild-mannered doppelgänger and, ultimately, leave Jones "holding the bag" for Mannion's crimes. He kidnaps Wilhelmina, Jones' visiting aunt, and a few others, and takes them back to his hideout. He instructs Jones to make a large deposit for Mannion's mother's benefit at the First National Bank, where police detectives are expecting Mannion to make another robbery attempt. Fortunately for Jones, he forgets to bring the check and unwittingly leads the police back to Mannion's hideout.
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Wikipedia