"Magic Town" is a nice little comedy/drama and the second picture that James Stewart made after World War II, his first picture being the classic "It's a Wonderful Life" (1946). In "Magic Town," Stewart portrays Lawrence "Rip" Smith, a slick, big-city opinion pollster in search of a "mathematical miracle": a small town whose opinions (and subsequent numerical figures) reflect those of the country as a whole. When he finds out that Grandview is one such place, he seizes his opportunity to make a fast buck and heads off to this "perfect town," all the while posing as an insurance agent...and coaching the high school basketball team on the side. All goes well until Rip's love interest, newspaper editor Mary Peterman (Jane Wyman), finds out what he's up to.
Here are my favorite moments from "Magic Town." The dance at the town meeting hall is briefly interrupted by a congregational singing of the best high school alma mater I have ever heard, titled "My Book of Memory." Rip butts in on a conference held by the mayor (Harry Holman) and convinces him and his committee not to change the town; if it weren't for the fact that Rip is a smooth-talking con man putting on a facade for the mayor and his committee, he otherwise appears as the quintessential boyish, drawling, folksy, innocent, idealistic, all-American Jimmy Stewart. The kind-faced Lou Dicketts (Wallace Ford) is one of the funnier characters in the picture because practically every sentence he speaks contains the word "whatchacallit." Rip boldly recites "Charge of the Light Brigade" against Mary's more subdued "Hiawatha." And finally, author Gary Fishgall, who wrote the finest biography of James Stewart I have ever read, pointed out that Stewart had decided to pepper up his characterization with exaggerated facial expressions (as when Rip recites his "goblins will get you" poem, or when he looks at Mary after she points out her graduation photo) and pieces of slapstick (as when Rip clumsily helps a kid stand on his shoulders to retrieve a basketball up a tree, or when Rip trips over some stairs when he mentions he can be tough). Stewart, in fact, may have been influenced by the Three Stooges in this film, as Rip utters such catchphrases as "Wise guy, huh?" and "What kind of a lamebrain do you think I am?"
There are probably many who believe that "Magic Town" was not the right vehicle for James Stewart. One critic at the time even asked how much longer he would have to sit and watch this "beanpole" (Stewart) hemming and hawing. True, Stewart's career was in a slump in the late 1940s, but he didn't have to worry for long. He decided to toughen up his screen image, and his status in the motion picture industry soared!
Here are my favorite moments from "Magic Town." The dance at the town meeting hall is briefly interrupted by a congregational singing of the best high school alma mater I have ever heard, titled "My Book of Memory." Rip butts in on a conference held by the mayor (Harry Holman) and convinces him and his committee not to change the town; if it weren't for the fact that Rip is a smooth-talking con man putting on a facade for the mayor and his committee, he otherwise appears as the quintessential boyish, drawling, folksy, innocent, idealistic, all-American Jimmy Stewart. The kind-faced Lou Dicketts (Wallace Ford) is one of the funnier characters in the picture because practically every sentence he speaks contains the word "whatchacallit." Rip boldly recites "Charge of the Light Brigade" against Mary's more subdued "Hiawatha." And finally, author Gary Fishgall, who wrote the finest biography of James Stewart I have ever read, pointed out that Stewart had decided to pepper up his characterization with exaggerated facial expressions (as when Rip recites his "goblins will get you" poem, or when he looks at Mary after she points out her graduation photo) and pieces of slapstick (as when Rip clumsily helps a kid stand on his shoulders to retrieve a basketball up a tree, or when Rip trips over some stairs when he mentions he can be tough). Stewart, in fact, may have been influenced by the Three Stooges in this film, as Rip utters such catchphrases as "Wise guy, huh?" and "What kind of a lamebrain do you think I am?"
There are probably many who believe that "Magic Town" was not the right vehicle for James Stewart. One critic at the time even asked how much longer he would have to sit and watch this "beanpole" (Stewart) hemming and hawing. True, Stewart's career was in a slump in the late 1940s, but he didn't have to worry for long. He decided to toughen up his screen image, and his status in the motion picture industry soared!