Review of People Will Talk (1951) by Ben L — 16 May 2016

This was a decent character drama about an OB-GYN whose methods and practices are being questioned. Cary Grant makes this a tolerable experience, where it could have been really bad with someone less engaging.

There are several moments that I really enjoyed in the film, perhaps the funniest was when 3 grown men are playing with toy trains. I liked the mystery of who Shunderson was, and the puzzle of how he fit into Dr.

Praetorius' life. I also really enjoyed the drama created when he does all he can to save a patient who is pregnant and despairs over her "ruined" life. The problem in the film is that it has a lot of extremely bland parts and performances, several characters behave in very illogical ways, and it occasionally seems to detour in order to push some agenda.

It is my understanding that this was a film that was created by the writer/director to further his liberal agenda in response to McCarthyism. There's nothing inherently wrong with the views expressed in the film, but it took some of the more personal character development that they were working towards and instead lifted the actors onto a soapbox to make a point.

It threatens to cripple the whole movie, but I still felt there were enough enjoyable moments that I would probably watch People Will Talk again. I doubt I would recommend it, though.