Party Wire (1935)
Director:
Erle C. Kenton
Writers:
Ethel Hill (screen play), John Howard Lawson (screen play)
Stars:
Jean Arthur, Victor Jory, Helen Lowell
In one of his few movie leading roles, Victor Jory plays an unmarried small-town creamery owner. Jory falls in love with Jean Arthur, daughter of the town's favorite citizen (Charley Grapewin). Jean's former boy friend disconsolately leaves town, leaving behind an unbalanced church budget which the girl must pay out of her own pocket. She phones her ex-sweetheart and complains about "the mess" he's left her in--whereupon a snoopy neighbor, listening in on the town's party line, spreads the rumor than Jean is "in the family way." The angry Jory fires all his workers in retaliation for the malicious gossip, and is nearly run out of town before the citizens realize that they themselves are responsible for all the trouble. Party Wire is a surprisingly frank assessment of small-town mentality--surprising in that the target audience for this sort of "B" film in 1935 was the rural and middle-class moviegoer.
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 DVD, $9.99 (https://www.zeusdvds.com/party-wire-1935-dvd/))
