The Worst Film Ever

It’s an especially fun movie from a director and cast who are clearly having a good time allowing themselves to let loose.

In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

As a supporter of free enterprise, I agreed with Donald Crisp and wanted to knock Lynn's block off due to the chip on.his shoulder. He lòoked far too old to.have a young sister- I'd have made her his niece living with her grandmother.

"Jeffrey Lynn plays an ex-politician who blames big business for his failure to get re-elected. To expose big business as an evil monster he joins his uncle's newspaper. When his little sister is caught in a cave-in, the town's largest company comes to her aid and he must now reconsider" his opposition to corporate America. Mr. Lynn (as Blake Washburn) and Marjorie Reynolds (as Janice Hunt) would have been better off playing the parents of the girl - what the heck were they doing before his five years in the Army and two in the State Capitol? Best friendly Alan Hale Jr. (as Slim Haskins) and sagely Donald Crisp (as John MacFarland) serve very workmanlike supporting parts. Mr. Crisp gets to end a speech with director/writer Arthur Pierson's obtuse observation, "When this country was first discovered, there was nothing here." Marilyn Monroe (as Iris Martin) has a relatively small, but pointed, secretarial role. It probably goes without saying that Ms. Monroe's occasional appearances, in close-fitting attire, are the film's highlights.** Home Town Story (5/18/51) Arthur Pierson ~ Jeffrey Lynn, Alan Hale Jr., Marilyn Monroe, Marjorie Reynolds

The Home Town Story didn't win Oscars or probably rave reviews. With the exception of Marilyn Monroe playing a receptionist/secretary at a small town newspaper, the film might as well have been forgotten. The story is about an unelected state senator who returns home to run the family newspaper with help and friendship from Slim (played by Alan Hale Jr. who played the Skipper on Gilligan's Island). Blake Washburn is the main character who comes home to his mother and his 10 year old little sister, Katie, and his fiancé, her school-teacher. Blake writes harsh columns about criticizing big businesses especially McFarland whose son beat him in the election. Blake writes harshly about the industry. It isn't until a crisis that he realizes his wrongs. The film is little over an hour. You only see Marilyn a couple of times. It's not about Marilyn but you see where she starts off.

There are several problems with this movie. There is not much of a plot. The dialogs leaves a lot to be desired. The minor characters are not well developed or defined. And the pace is snail like. However, the main problem I have with this story is that the lead character, Blake Washburn, is not even close to being a likable fellow. While I understand he was supposed to be pushy, driven and opinionated, the plain fact is that he was just a Jackass. (Can I say that?) As a result, it is a real stretch to expect the audience to care about him. There is an accident involving his little sister, but we have not spent enough time with her to get to know and like her and you have to like before you can care. We care about this little girl's plight, but only because she is a child - any child would solicit the same response. Do we really care it was his sister? I will not say the movie totally sucked, but I will say it left me unmoved and empty. There were, however, two performances that worked Alan Hale Jr. gave a pretty good performance as ace reporter and friend of Washburn, as if this guy could really have a friend. Donald Crisp gave the best performance of the lot as industrialist John MacFarland who displayed a even balance of quiet ambition, intellect, drive and humanity to stand out from all the other characters even though he did not really have that much screen time.