Pre-code Gangster Movie Will Crack You Up!

“A criminal is only as brave as his gun, you take his gun away and he’s a coward just like anybody else.” Arthur Ferguson Jones – Played by Eddie G. Robinson in classic movie “The Whole Town’s Talking.” I could go on forever about this wonderful comedy starring Jean Arthur and Eddie G. Robinson, but Bacall does not pay me enough.

Eddie G. plays dual roles in this 1935 comedy Pic. Eddie G. stars as a sheepish bookkeeper who looks just like a gangster also played by Robinson. Much of the comedy is provided by Jean Arthur who plays a tough, sassy 30′s gal. She has more courage and spunk than all the men who work in her office.

When Jones, the bookkeeper gets mistakenly picked up by police as Mannion, the gangster, what follows is ten minutes of a funny frenzy of crazed reporters, police, and detectives trying to sort the whole thing out. When fingerprints did not match the killer, Jones is released with a special passport signed by the police chief identifying Jones as the bookkeeper. Eventually Robinson, the gangster figures the passport is a great get-out-of-jail-card and uses it regularly when on his crime sprees.

My favorite scene: when Jones, a shy guy who does not drink or smoke, gets loaded when his boss gives him a few drinks and some cigars. It was great fun to watch Eddie G. who can play just about anything, in this role. Arthur, who played Ms Clark, Jones’ co-worker, is sort of the bookkeeper’s backbone and biggest cheerleader, sticking up for the poor innocent sap. I love a strong woman.