Actors Cary Grant and Jean Arthur worked together on two films, the first of which came from 1939’s Only Angels Have Wings. Because I found that one to offer a sluggish and flat experience, I went into 1942’s The Talk of the Town with hopes to discover something better.

On trial for a crime he didn’t commit, Leopold Dilg (Grant) overpowers a guard and escapes. As he flees, he seeks refuge with his friend Nora Shelley (Arthur).

Nora rents her home to legal scholar Michael Lightcap (Ronald Colman). While Leopold poses as a gardener, he and Nora try to get Michael to help them prove his innocence and plead his case.

All of that seems like a strange premise for what essentially offers a romantic comedy much of the time. Indeed, Talk opens with a dark and grim scenario that covers Leopold’s alleged crime and imprisonment.

Once Leopold winds up at Nora’s house, matters lighten up, though the classification of Talk as a screwball comedy feels like a stretch. I expect a certain level of manic energy that doesn’t come from this film.

Indeed, I struggle to find much energy at all within Talk. As much as it seems to want to break free and deliver a peppy affair, the movie tends to drag.

Really, Talk feels like maybe 45 minutes of actual content stretched to nearly two hours. While I wouldn’t claim the tale plods, it sure does take its sweet time to get where it wants to go.

Given how many films rush at a too rapid rate, I probably should applaud the gradual pace at which Talk proceeds. However, the end product simply doesn’t fill that space with enough material of interest to justify the running time.

The inconsistent tone doesn’t help. Talented as he was, director George Stevens can’t balance the flick’s wackier elements and the drama related to the literal life or death nature of Leopold’s situation.

Steven never figures out whether he wants to embrace the screwball comedic domain or it he prefers the legal drama or if he wants to focus on romance. Talk also detours to become a Frank Capra-style civics lesson by the end. Stevens weaves and bobs among these three concepts and never creates a cohesive piece.

Honestly, it surprises me that a filmmaker of Stevens’ skill level seems so adrift. Talk just rambles and never figures out what it wants to be or where it wants to go.

Talk also misuses a good cast, especially in terms of both Grant and Arthur. Colman does just fine as the legal scholar who struggles with how he should handle his situation.

However, Arthur and Grant seem left on the sidelines a surprising amount of the time, and they don’t really get much room to shine. In particular, Grant almost seems like an afterthought here.

Even though the plot revolves around Leopold, Talk doesn’t really spend that much time with him. Grant never gets the chance to let his charm show, so he feels underused here.

Even with its flaws, I would still pick Talk over the semi-misbegotten Only Angels Have Wings, but that acts as faint praise. Despite intermittent pleasures, Talk just doesn’t connect like it should.

The Talk of the Town appears in an aspect ratio of 1.37:1 on this 4K UHD Disc. This became a largely appealing Dolby Vision presentation.

Overall sharpness worked well, with only occasional instances of mild softness. Though the flick rarely came across as genuinely razor sharp, it nonetheless displayed appropriate delineation most of the time.

Neither jaggies nor moiré effects impacted the proceedings, and the presence of light grain meant it seemed unlikely that digital noise reduction came into play. Edge haloes remained absent and I saw no print flaws.

Blacks seemed deep and rich, while contrast gave the movie a fine silvery sheen. Low-light shots brought us nice smoothness and clarity.

HDR added range to whites and contrast. This turned into a more than satisfactory image.

Unfortunately, the movie’s DTS-HD MA monaural soundtrack, as it came with some issues. In particular, music and effects displayed some distortion at times.

In addition, speech occasionally came across as a bit edgy. These concerns popped up only in the film’s louder moments and didn’t pervade the track, but they created distractions when they occurred.

Still, much of the film displayed acceptable quality for a movie from 1942. The track lacked warmth and leaned thin much of the time.

Nonetheless, the track felt fine for its era – when it avoided the aforementioned distortion. Those concerns made this an inconsistent mix.

When we go to extras, we get an audio commentary from author Mary Ann Moss. She provides a running, screen-specific discussion of story anc characters, cast and crew, and historical context.

With a slow, halting speech pattern, Moss makes this track progress at a snail’s pace. If she provided valuable information, I’d not mind, but instead, she tends to do little more than simply narrate the on-screen action.

At best, Moss provides maybe three to five minutes of mildly interesting content. I can find no reason to recommend this borderline useless commentary.

Talking About Talk of the Town goes for five minutes. It offers remarks from filmmaker/director’s son George Stevens Jr.

Here we find notes about what the elder Stevens brought to the project as well as aspects of his career and this production. “Talking” turns into a decent little overview, though it seems too brief to tell us much.

With a good cast and a legendary director, The Talk of the Town should offer a winning affair. Unfortunately, the movie drags and fails to find the necessary groove. The 4K UHD offers generally positive visuals as well as inconsistent audio and a bonus features that include a terrible commentary. Chalk up Talk as a sluggish disappointment.