MILD SPOILERS AHEAD
Noteworthy because it is one of Marilyn Monroe's early films, "Home Town Story" is a reasonably interesting tale of a politician (Jeffrey Lynn) who returns home after losing his bid for reelection to Congress. He is somewhat bitter about losing the reelection and has a bit of a grudge against the community. He takes over running his uncles newspaper and in the process begins to alienate his fiancee, his best friend and others while using the newspaper as a vehicle to get himself reelected and take out his revenge against "big business". A tragedy occurs and his little sister is hurt in an accident. The results of this event cause him to reconsider his one-sided views and he begins to look at "corporations" with a more balanced perspective. This movie definitely gets across the point of view that "corporations" and "big business" make their contributions to society, but contrary to what some folks would have us think, a movie with a point of view is not necessarily objectionable, unless you are strongly biased against that view. This movie manages to get its point across without being annoying. Whether you agree with its politics or not, "Hometown Story" is not a bad movie and benefits from having a message. Jeffrey Lynn does a decent job of playing the politician, and Marilyn Monroe has a rather minor part as a receptionist at the newspaper. Watch for the likeable Alan Hale, Jr. who later starred as the skipper in "Gilligan's Island" and who plays bigger part in the film than Marilyn Monroe. I give this movie 73/100 points.
Noteworthy because it is one of Marilyn Monroe's early films, "Home Town Story" is a reasonably interesting tale of a politician (Jeffrey Lynn) who returns home after losing his bid for reelection to Congress. He is somewhat bitter about losing the reelection and has a bit of a grudge against the community. He takes over running his uncles newspaper and in the process begins to alienate his fiancee, his best friend and others while using the newspaper as a vehicle to get himself reelected and take out his revenge against "big business". A tragedy occurs and his little sister is hurt in an accident. The results of this event cause him to reconsider his one-sided views and he begins to look at "corporations" with a more balanced perspective. This movie definitely gets across the point of view that "corporations" and "big business" make their contributions to society, but contrary to what some folks would have us think, a movie with a point of view is not necessarily objectionable, unless you are strongly biased against that view. This movie manages to get its point across without being annoying. Whether you agree with its politics or not, "Hometown Story" is not a bad movie and benefits from having a message. Jeffrey Lynn does a decent job of playing the politician, and Marilyn Monroe has a rather minor part as a receptionist at the newspaper. Watch for the likeable Alan Hale, Jr. who later starred as the skipper in "Gilligan's Island" and who plays bigger part in the film than Marilyn Monroe. I give this movie 73/100 points.