Magic Town (1947)
Directed by William A. Wellman

Film Review

Magic Town is an engaging, if not entirely memorable, comedy-drama that looks as if to may have come out of the Frank Capra stable, but was in fact directed by William A. Wellman, another productive Hollywood filmmaker with a keenly developed social conscience.  In common with the similarly themed It's a Wonderful Life (1946), which also starred James Stewart and was released a few months earlier, Magic Town was a significant box office flop, but unlike Capra's film it never went on to acquire the status of a classic, probably because it is patently lacking in Capra's subtlety and unique poetry.
   
Although James Stewart is effectively partnered with Jane Wyman, their character's romantic entanglement is downplayed and appears almost incidental to the plot, which is mainly concerned with stoking mistrust of the recently introduced science of opinion polling.  The film's fanciful premise has gained credibility over the years, and now it is far from uncommon for pollsters to exploit so-called bellweather communities to gauge the mood of the country as a whole, and not just America.  Magic Town lacks the narrative sophistication and directorial flair of Wellman's other socially aware dramas, most notably The Public Enemy (1931) and Wild Boys of the Road (1933), but it is an entertaining diversion that offers a rare and amusing insight into small town America in the 1940s.

Film Synopsis

Rip Smith is convinced that he can steal a march on the polling agencies if he can find a typical American town that, when polled, gives precisely the same results as a nationwide poll.  By chance, he happens upon one such town, Grandview, which appears to be the perfect barometer for public opinion across the United States.  Realising that to reveal Grandview's unique talent to its residents would spell disaster, Smith sets himself up as an insurance agent, the perfect cover for a pollster.  Unfortunately, he becomes romantically involved with a newspaper editor, Mary Peterman, who is outraged when she discovers his real interest in the town.  Once Mary has printed an article exposing what she considers to be an underhand intrigue, Grandview quickly acquires national celebrity and becomes a boom town, a haven for anyone who wants to know what the average American thinks on any subject.  Aware of their importance, the town's residents begin to give ever more fanciful responses to opinion polls, and Grandview soon becomes a laughing stock, so far are its opinions from the national average.  As decline sets in, a mood of hopelessness settles on the town, but Mr Smith sees a way by which it can be saved, if its inhabitants are willing to pull together and make a sacrifice for the good of their community...