Plot
At an advertising firm, office manager Seaver is instructed by the boss, J.G. Carpenter, to fire the next employee who shows up late and to reward a particular employee, meek and mild-mannered clerk Arthur Ferguson Jones, with a raise, as he is never late. That morning, when Jones oversleeps and shows up late for work for the first time, Seaver is unsure whether to fire him or give him a raise. Shortly afterwards, Wilhelmina Clark, Jones' brash co-worker with whom he is secretly infatuated, also comes in late and is fired by Seaver. Seeing a picture of escaped convict "Killer" Mannion in the newspaper, Wilhelmina points out to the staff that he bears a striking resemblance to Jones.
While having lunch at a restaurant, Jones is approached by Wilhelmina, and as they talk, he reveals he is an aspiring writer and dreams of going to Shanghai. Upon seeing Mannion's picture in the newspaper, a fellow patron spots Jones and turns him over to the police, hoping for the $25,000 reward. Jones and Wilhelmina are both taken into custody and interrogated at the police station, where a nervous Jones protests his innocence. While Jones is still at the station, the real Mannion robs a bank. After Seaver arrives to establish Jones' identity, the district attorney gives Jones a special passport identifying him as not Mannion to prevent another mistaken arrest.
As Jones becomes a local celebrity, J.G. gets him to sign a contract with newspaperman Healy to be credited as the author of a series of ghostwritten articles on Mannion. After the three men get drunk in J.G.'s private office, Jones kisses Wilhelmina and orders Seaver to rehire her. That night, Jones returns home to find Mannion at his apartment, demanding to let him use the passport at night to protect him during criminal undertakings, while Jones will have it during the day. In the morning, Mannion returns to the apartment, and Jones leaves for work, where Wilhelmina volunteers to be Jones' agent to ensure that he gets paid.
When the first installment of the newspaper series is published, Mannion orders Jones to have the series be turned into his reminiscences of the prison break. Jones' next article raises the suspicion of the police, as it includes details only the guards involved and Mannion would know. Wilhelmina visits Jones' apartment to bring him his first paycheck as an author, initially failing to recognize Mannion. Noticing Mannion's gun, Wilhelmina flees the apartment but is caught by Mannion before she can contact the police. The police complain that with "Jones" using his passport at night, they cannot stop Mannion from committing crimes, so the district attorney orders that Jones be placed under protective custody in prison.
After learning that "Slugs" Martin, a fellow gangster who informed on Mannion, is also in protective custody, Mannion masquerades as Jones and kills Martin. Seaver picks Mannion up from prison, believing him to be Jones, only to be kidnapped and taken to Mannion's hideout with his other hostages, Wilhelmina and Jones' visiting aunt. Mannion schemes to have Jones killed in a police ambush by sending him to the bank disguised in a mustache to deposit money for his mother, thus convincing the police that Mannion is dead. He then has a henchman call the police with a tip-off that Mannion is about to rob the bank with a mustache on.
As Jones is about to walk into the bank, he realizes he has forgotten to bring the check and unwittingly leads the police back to the hideout while Mannion is out with a girlfriend. Upon his arrival, Jones is mistaken for Mannion by the waiting henchmen, who inadvertently reveal Mannion's plan to have Jones killed by the police. When the real Mannion returns unexpectedly, his gang kills him with a machine gun, thinking he is Jones. Jones then grabs the machine gun, locks up the gangsters, and frees the hostages. The police arrive to arrest the remaining gangsters. With Mannion dead, Jones collects the $25,000 reward and takes a cruise to Shanghai with Wilhelmina.
Production
The Whole Town's Talking– which had the working titles of "Jail Breaker" and "Passport to Fame" [3] – was in production from October 24 to December 11, 1934. [4] The film incorporated some footage originally shot for Columbia's 1931 film The Criminal Code . [5]
Columbia Pictures borrowed Edward G. Robinson for this film from Warner Bros. – Robinson heard about the transactions through gossip columnist Louella Parsons. [2] At the time Robinson's career was somewhat moribund and the star was tired of playing only gangsters. He was initially opposed to the project but changed his mind after reading the script. [2] In retrospect The Whole Town's Talking has been seen as a turning point for Robinson, reviving his cinematic fortunes. [2] [5] Along with 1933's The Little Giant , 1938's A Slight Case of Murder , 1940's Brother Orchid , and 1942's Larceny, Inc. , it was one of the few comedies Robinson made. [6]
W. R. Burnett, who wrote the story that The Whole Town's Talking was based on, also wrote Little Caesar , which was the film that catapulted Robinson to stardom, and High Sierra , the film of which was a significant step for Humphrey Bogart in moving from playing gangsters to romantic lead. [6]
