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A Stranger in Town (1943 film)

A Stranger in Town is a 1943 comedy-drama political film made by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed by Roy Rowland and produced by Robert Sisk from an original screenplay by Isobel Lennart and William Kozlenko. The film has a music score by Daniele Amfitheatrof and Nathaniel Shilkret, and cinematography by Sidney Wagner.

A Stranger in Town

  • April 1943 (1943-04)

67 minutes

United States

English

Plot[edit]

Quietly planning to go duck hunting, John Josephus (Joe) Grant, a U.S. Supreme Court justice, tells his secretary Lucy Gilbert where he will be but no one else. A fish-and-game warden promptly insists he pay an extra fee for a license and toss in a "tip". Grant refuses and ends up in town, facing possible criminal charges.


There he discovers honest lawyer Bill Adams, running for mayor against the incumbent, Connison, someone he considers to be corrupt. Judge Austin Harkley, businessman Blaxton and even the sheriff appear to be in the mayor's pocket, and when Bill is insulted and throws a punch, they conspire to keep him in jail.


Joe intervenes on Bill's behalf without telling anyone his true identity. He helps free Bill in the first legal dispute, then does likewise for Lucy after she shows up and is denied a room at the local hotel for no good reason. Joe ultimately admits who he really is, causing Bill to faint. Once he recovers, his political career begins.

as John Josephus Grant

Frank Morgan

as Bill Adams

Richard Carlson

[1] as Lucy Gilbert

Jean Rogers

as Judge Austin Harkley

Porter Hall

as Mayor Connison

Robert Barrat

as Vinnie Z. Blaxton

Donald MacBride

as Tom Cooney

Walter Baldwin

as Roscoe Swade

Andrew Tombes

as Homer Todds

Olin Howland

as Charles Craig

Chill Wills

as Orrin Todds

Irving Bacon

as Henry

Eddie Dunn

as Birdie

Gladys Blake

as Hart Ridges

John Hodiak

as Blaxton's Lawyer

Edward Keane

as Sergeant

Robert Homans

at the AFI Catalog of Feature Films

A Stranger in Town

at IMDb

A Stranger in Town

at the TCM Movie Database

A Stranger in Town

at AllMovie

A Stranger in Town

is available for free viewing and download at the Internet Archive

A Stranger in Town