Search - Home Town Story on DVD

Is this like your Fifth and Main?

Robin Benson | 03/21/2006

(2 out of 5 stars)

"Check out the various versions on the Amazon search facility and you'll mostly see Marilyn featured as the main image on most of the DVD boxes, the reality is that she appears for less than five minutes and her dialogue could be read in about two.

I found my copy in a supermarket at such a low price that I wondered if anyone was making anything on it, they were of course. The reason I bought it was the title and the fact that it was made in the early fifties and I was right, it does show everyday life in small-city USA. You'll get to see middle class domestic housing, interior decor, fashions, buses, trains, planes (even a newspaper delivery boy on one of those Cushman motor scooters) and a simple homey story with a bit of economic theory chucked in as well...and that's it.

Without a photo of Ms Monroe on the front nobody would be interested (apart from me of course). It will probably continue to be re-released every few years to attract another wave of new MM fans but it really should have been forgotten decades ago.
"

Nice Plot

Dr. W. G. Covington, Jr. | Edinboro, Pennsylvania | 04/27/2005

(4 out of 5 stars)

"This is a film about media ethics. It shows that not all would-be muckrakers are right, that assumptions can be wrong. Objectivity in journalism is the theme of the story. Jeffrey Lynne plays Blake Washburn, a politician who has been defeated in a recent election. He returns to his hometown to edit the local newspaper. In the process, his subjectivity distorts his decision making.

Alan Hale, Jr. (the Skipper of "Gilligan's Island) is a reporter working for Washburn who sees what is happening to his friend and boss. He tries unsuccessfully to help him see that he has a distorted view of reality. Washburn doesn't listen and continues to turn out negative content. He criticizes local businesses and one of the owners approaches him to discuss fairness.

In the end, Washburn's younger sister is saved by the very corporation he defamed. Washburn learns the error of his ways and changes. Marily Monroe is one of the secretaries. Alan Hale, Jr.'s character tries to get a relationship going with her, but doesn't make it happen. Overall this is a well done film."

One of the Best Pro-Business Hollywood Speeches Ever

M. Steckbeck | 06/05/2008

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Alright, this is a cheesy movie and there is too little of Marilyn Monroe to make it worth buying if that's all you're looking for (but she looks hot at 24-years-old and in a tight sweater). But it does have businessman John McFarland (played by Donald Crisp) giving one of the best pro-market speeches ever. It's on par with Danny DeVito's great speech in _Other People's Money_."