Prismark10 A charming Capraesque satire that lacks bit but contains warmth and mild amusement.Rip Smith (James Stewart) is a pollster who has a theory that somewhere in America there is a small town which a cross section of the public whose make up and views reflect the wider USA.He finds out that Grandview is that town and with his team pretending to be insurance salesmen they conduct their surveys. These plans are threatened when a local lady Mary Peterman (Jane Wyman) wants to expand the town with new buildings which Smith feels might upset the balance of the town. Peterman then later finds out Smith's real agenda and that the town is used for his own company's financial gain.Pretty soon every media organisation and pollsters come to Grandview seeking the townsfolk opinions but their behaviour changes and so do their opinions no longer reflect the wider nation.The film loses its satirical edge for a sentimental love story but it still an enjoyable story with pleasing leads.

writers_reign Robert Riskin wrote some of Frank Capra's best films (including a Best Screenplay Oscar for It Happened One Night) and famously marched into Capra's office with an unopened ream of typing paper, threw it on the desk and said 'Let's see you put the Capra 'touch' on that' and this post-war Riskin screenplay is nothing if not a Capra thirties comedy set in the forties. Whilst it is always highly watchable it is also forgettable because 1) it's a thirties-type movie set in the forties, 2) although James Stewart was completely at home with Capracorn Jane Wyman wasn't; light years away from the gossamer touch of Jean Arthur she excelled in melodramatic weepies like Johnny Belinda and The Blue Veil and 3) William Wellman is not the best director to replicate a Capra movie. That being said it is, I repeat, highly watchable even if the chemistry between Stewart and Wyman is only marginally warmer than that between Bette Davis and Joan Crawford. Perhaps the best way to put it is that Grandview more than rates an E for Effort but can't quite equal Bedford Falls.

bkoganbing I have to admit the premise behind Magic Town was a really good and original one. The fact that small time pollster James Stewart discovers a town that is a microcosm of American thinking. What a shortcut, just move in there and poll the citizens on any question. But you have to do it with subterfuge and the town can never have any marked growth of any kind or the goose that's laying Stewart's golden egg is cooked.Enter Jane Wyman, acting editor of the small town paper who has some ideas about getting the town to grow. That sets up the conflict with Stewart and then the romantic complications set in. Their romance and their differing agendas set the tone for the rest of the film.I think with a lighter touch this could have been a classic film. It's not a bad film, it's moving in spots, but the subject matter doesn't lend itself to Frank Capra type populism. I'm sure this is a property that Capra himself must have rejected.Stewart and Wyman are ably supported by the usual group of great character performers that usually populate a Capra film. William Wellman directed this and I think he was out of his element. He's so much better in action films.It's also so old fashioned in its view of small town America. I can't believe that such a place like Grandview could possibly exist. Think about it, a cross section of America would have its bad people too among the population. Not a bad person in the whole town. And they even list a U.S. Senator in their population. That would in and of itself make it atypical by his mere presence. In fact when this film was made Harry Truman was president and certainly Independence, Missouri has never been "typical" since he came to political prominence.My favorite scene is the dance where the whole crowd except the outsider Stewart sing the high school song. It's sung to the tune of I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen. It's a nice moment and it demonstrates just how alien big city slicker Jimmy Stewart is in this environment. It's good, but it does tip over into the saccharine.Both Stewart and Wyman have certainly done better, but fans of both these performers will like it. But can you imagine what someone like Preston Sturges would have done with this material?

Robert Short Certainly not one of the great comedies, but charming and rather whimsical in its own way. In this day and age of raucous and crude humour (if you can call it that), a movie like "Magic Town" will probably seem hopelessly old-fashioned and dated, but for those who prefer a quieter and more gentle humour, "Magic Town" will fill the bill very nicely. Very Frank Capra-like (not surprisingly since screenwriter Robert Riskin collaborated with Capra numerous times), "Magic Town" reminds us of a by-gone era, a time when living in a small town meant knowing your neighbours, pride in your community, and the moral values of common decency and humility were still part of everyday life. James Stewart as the pollster who discovers a town full of people whose opinions exactly mirror the national thinking gives his customary good performance, as does Jane Wyman as the newspaper publisher who wants to see change in the town. Many well-known character actors (Kent Smith, Wallace Ford, Ann Shoemaker and particularly Ned Sparks) provide capable support. A slight offering, perhaps, but quite worthwhile.