Search - Home Town Story [Slim Case] on DVD

Steve P. (Solarsurfer) from PACIFICA, CA
Reviewed on 5/27/2013...

I found the movie's premise interesting considering when this movie was made (1950's) during the height of the anti-communist hysteria, pushed by Senator Joe McCarthy. After losing an election to a challenger, a progressive ex-senator returns to the small town newspaper as it's editor. Resuming his roll as journalist, he commences investigations of pollution of local rivers by the manufacturing plants in the area. He naively prints articles accusing the corporations of gross profiteering. So the owner of a small motor manufacturing company comes to confront the editor about these attacks, and denies ever polluting any of the rivers. He gently lectures him on all the good things the company does for the community with their profits, and lists many advances in product design and manufacturing of technologies that help people, and are created with the R&D dollars derived from their profits. But the editor rejects the assertions and vows to continue his investigations. It is only when his kid sister is trapped in an an abandoned mine shaft on a school outing, and is rescued and flown to the nearest big hospital by the motor company's owner (piloting his own private plane) that he begins to see "the other side of the story". All coordinated by the latest technologies developed under free market capitalism.
As an excellent example of an American Hollywood propaganda piece for underscoring the superiority of "free market capitalism" over socialism/communism, this film depicts the main character's conversion from a "hopelessly angry, liberal, environmentalist ex-senator and muckraking newspaper editor", to a happily reborn neo-liberal apologist for the local ruling class, after seeing the errors of his ways. While the film never uses the words socialism or communism, the contrast was obvious to me. As for Marilyn Monroe's appearance, it is very brief as one of this editor's office secretaries, and one of her first acting jobs in Hollywood.
This script could have been written by Edward Bernaise, the father of American PR adopted by Madison Avenue. It is worth viewing as an example of propaganda entertainment.

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_."