Slow pace in the most part of the movie.

Not even bad in a good way

Most undeservingly overhyped movie of all time??

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Absolutely an outstanding movie. "A Stranger In Town" has laughs, fun moments, drama, tension and manages to keep it all lighthearted enough to make it an enjoyable movie for one and all. Frank Morgan (Wizard Of Oz 1939) is excellent as a vacationing Supreme Court Justice who stumbles into a corrupt town's government. Richard Carlson (Hold That Ghost 1941) is just as good as a small town lawyer trying to right a system gone wrong. The supporting cast is equally as entertaining (Jean Rogers, Porter Hall, Robert Barrat, etc...) in this great, great movie. While the director Roy Rowland (Dr. Seuss's The 5,000 Fingers Of Dr.T. 1953) is new to me, it is a marvelous job of direction on his part that also helps to make this an A movie for me.

Looking for something to watch on a Friday evening while feeling ill I ran across this wonderful little gem I had dvr'd earlier in the week solely because it had Frank Morgan AND Richard Carlson. My mind wanted to see The Wizard of Oz meets the man who fights The Creature from the Black Lagoon and how well they would be together! TCM had given it only 3 stars so I was not expecting much and the first 90% of the film was entertaining enough, a solid 3 star movie. Amusing to envision a time when a Supreme Court Justice would not be instantly recognized by the Mayberry-esque type town mayor and judge (even if the quaint town does have some shady goings on). No googling in that day and age! Then we reach the last 10 minutes of the film. Which if I could rate the film ONLY on those last 10 minutes it would be a solid 5 stars. Frank Morgan delivers a speech that will move and inspire you. Gave me chills to hear a monologue from a man written and spoken over 60 years ago that could be a headline of this evenings news. The problems he spoke about are exactly the problems our nation is facing today. Touched me so profoundly I played it over and over until I got every word written down and then posted it online to my friends. Bottom line, a nice enough little film from the early 40's with a magnificent ending. Worth watching with your children for not only does it address some current political problems but also bullying.

A Stranger in Town is a rather inconsequential film released in 1943. It is listed as a romance/drama, but it is more comedy than anything else, because the story is written very lightly.When I saw the title, I immediately wondered which version of small-town America would be presented--the myth of small town generosity that embraces all strangers as if they were friends, or the sometime reality that in small towns, people are suspicious of strangers and their motives, regarding them as outsiders (and sometimes barbarians). We don't have to wait long to find out.Supreme Court justice Joe Grant (played by Frank Morgan) visits the small town of Crown Port to get away from the city and hunt ducks. He immediately encounters the local game warden who invokes a local law and tries to extract a few bucks out of him. Joe goes to court to contest the fine and gets a less than encouraging result. While in town, he meets Bill Adams (Richard Carlson), a local attorney who is miffed enough about the entrenched, corrupt town mayor, and his cronies, to run for election against the mayor. But he feels he is fighting a losing battle, so his effort is half-hearted. Joe becomes a mentor to the young attorney and eventually lights a fire under his nominal campaign. Joe brings his secretary, Lucy Gilbert (Jean Rogers), to town where she also becomes involved in the proceedings.Both sides--the political machine of the incumbent and Bill's allies--use (some arcane) laws to battle. They thrust and parry until there is fighting in the streets.This is another film about the rights of men, and how they should hold government responsible in the name of justice. But if one watches carefully, the film demonstrates the unfortunate truth that the law is not about justice. Real knowledge of law is only available to attorneys. The common man must avail himself of their services, knowing that laws are created by (mostly lawyer) politicians. We all know how highly politicians are held in the public's esteem.Though this film was shooting for a Mr. Smith Goes to Washington-type rallying of the human spirit in the name of the "little man", it falls short. In the end, this film wraps up very neatly, as expected. I would watch the film, but not expect more than a cute little story with likable characters.

In "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" (1939), fly-over wisdom solves Washington corruption. In "A Stranger in Town" (1943), Washington wisdom solves fly-over corruption.Frank Morgan portrays an incognito Supreme Court justice, who during his duck-hunting vacation, is reluctantly drawn into a small town fight against corruption. It is a dramatic change from his usual flamboyant-befuddled performance, and he does pretty well. One discordant note, however, occurs early in the picture. Morgan, while cradling a shotgun, meanders throughout town, into a barbershop, and even a courtroom. Nowadays, he'd have been pounced on, and probably branded a lunatic.The film's pace is snappy, the romantic leads (Richard Carlson and Jean Rogers) have excellent chemistry, and the supporting cast is fabulous. It includes Robert Barrat, Porter Hall, John Hodiak (in his debut), Donald MacBride, Andrew Tombes, and Chill Wills (later Francis-the-Talking-Mule's voice). Ironically, however, Robert Barrat, who does a fine job playing the oleaginous mayor, had, about a decade earlier, been cast in an opposing role as a bucolic reformer fighting corruption. (His part was in "The St. Louis Kid" [1934], a charming James Cagney vehicle.) Yet, "A Stranger" has two sloppy errors, both of which occur in the same scene. (They should have been caught and corrected.) First, Carlson enters the local hotel and orders a "single room" for the night, but walks away leaving his key behind. Then, the following morning in court, he testifies that the hotel had violated the law by having the twin beds in his room placed less than two feet apart. If his room was a single, however, it wouldn't have had twin beds.Finally, you might try following-up this film with "The Magnificent Yankee" (1950) if you're into related double features. It is a heartwarming story about Oliver Wendell Holmes, an actual Supreme Court justice, whose tenure would have ended at about the same time Morgan's fictitious one had started.