The Whole Town's Talking vs. Mogambo

1 comments

0 comments

Two below-average John Ford flicks, neither in his typical genre of the Western. The Whole Town's Talking is a film Ford made right before his Oscar-winning The Informer, which catapulted into the spotlight and set him up for the string of incredibly successful films he made around 1939 and 1940, when he became a true star director. Unfortunately, The Whole Town's Talking isn't a great movie. It relies far too much on the gimmick of Edgar G. Robinson in a double role, pairing his typical gangster persona with the counterpoint of a more mild-mannered clerk, and while his ability to play these two roles is an impressive feat, it's difficult to forget about the gimmick and focus on the story. Also, the movie can't seem to decide how seriously to take itself: the first 30 minutes or so are comedy pure and simple, whereas the last act involves a surprising amount of bloodshed. Despite Robinson's excellent performance and a pre-stardom appearance by Jean Arthur, I couldn't warm to the film. Mogambo isn't much better. It was released almost twenty years later in 1953, the same decade that Ford directed The Searchers, and it's a remake of the earlier Clark Gable film Red Dust. At 52, Gable makes an unlikely male lead -- he played basically the same role when he was 32 -- and the transitions between second-unit location shooting and the actual studio footage with the actors are painfully obvious. And how about that Grace Kelly character? I wanted to slap her, and I usually love Grace Kelly. It probably says something about the movie when I really wanted Ava Gardner and Donald Sinden to get together at the end. Gardner's by far the best thing about Mogambo--she's funny, sexy, and looks gorgeous in her Helen Rose costumes. And because of her I think I'm changing my vote to favor Mogambo over The Whole Town's Talking, which was previously higher in my rankings. The reason is simply because Mogambo, while dull, doesn't rely so heavily on a gimmick, and Gardner's character is by far the most memorable in either movie. Still, if you're looking to get into John Ford's movies, skip both of these and watch Stagecoach instead.