James Stewart is back as Mr. Smith, but this time he isn't that naive country bumpkin who became a Senator and went to Washington. Here, he's a cynical New York idea man whose recent business (collecting public opinion) has failed. Smith gets the idea of going to Granview, a medium sized town whose statistics perfectly match the national average. Wanting to find out what makes this town tick and stay so quaint, Stewart and his cohorts (Donald Meek and Ned Sparks) go there where they upset the apple cart by convincing the town council that they don't need to go along with newspaper editor Jane Wyman's plans to expand the town and bring in new business. Wyman plants a negative story about Stewart in the paper, and their confrontation turns to attraction and leads to romance. Stewart keeps the truth about his true identity to himself, and when the story breaks, Grandview is all of a sudden a mecca for people looking for Ideal Town U.S.A. But as fast as interest explodes, it declines, making the people of Grandview come off as fools and desperate for a way not to be categorized as a national joke.
Robert Riskin, who spent years as Frank Capra's writer for such classics as "Mr. Deeds" and "Mr. Smith", is away from Capracorn here, and instead has William Wellman (director of 1937's "A Star is Born") in charge. Producing as well as writing, Riskin utilizes all of the tricks that made Capra's corny tales so popular, but comes up with a concept so convoluted and irritating that it ends up being an overly chatty mess. Still, he has a great cast of Hollywood's best character actors to work with, and two extremely popular stars in Stewart and Wyman, fresh from Oscar Nominated work in "It's a Wonderful Life" and "The Yearling", respectively. Crusty Ned Sparks, who must have been the offspring of a dill pickle and an overripe lemon, is the Walter Matthau of his era, and always funny. The appropriately named Donald Meek is a Wallace Shawn ("The Princess Bride", "My Dinner With Andre") look-alike. These were possibly the last appearances of both, and even with the film's mediocrity, a great swan song for them.
The problem with the film is that it doesn't seem to know when to quit, which towards the end makes the film come off as pretentious and quite obnoxious. Stewart, the epitome of the "every man", got a disappointing follow-up to "Wonderful Life", while Wyman is never totally likable as the driven editor. There are some amusing moments, and it is touching to see Stewart reaching out to the teenagers of the town, but when all is said and done, "Magic Town" ends up as one of the biggest duds of the 40's.
Robert Riskin, who spent years as Frank Capra's writer for such classics as "Mr. Deeds" and "Mr. Smith", is away from Capracorn here, and instead has William Wellman (director of 1937's "A Star is Born") in charge. Producing as well as writing, Riskin utilizes all of the tricks that made Capra's corny tales so popular, but comes up with a concept so convoluted and irritating that it ends up being an overly chatty mess. Still, he has a great cast of Hollywood's best character actors to work with, and two extremely popular stars in Stewart and Wyman, fresh from Oscar Nominated work in "It's a Wonderful Life" and "The Yearling", respectively. Crusty Ned Sparks, who must have been the offspring of a dill pickle and an overripe lemon, is the Walter Matthau of his era, and always funny. The appropriately named Donald Meek is a Wallace Shawn ("The Princess Bride", "My Dinner With Andre") look-alike. These were possibly the last appearances of both, and even with the film's mediocrity, a great swan song for them.
The problem with the film is that it doesn't seem to know when to quit, which towards the end makes the film come off as pretentious and quite obnoxious. Stewart, the epitome of the "every man", got a disappointing follow-up to "Wonderful Life", while Wyman is never totally likable as the driven editor. There are some amusing moments, and it is touching to see Stewart reaching out to the teenagers of the town, but when all is said and done, "Magic Town" ends up as one of the biggest duds of the 40's.