Magic Town

Magic Town

The guy with the dynamite heart meets the girl with the firecracker eyes!

NR 1947 · 103 min · ★ 6.7 · Comedy, Romance

Rip Smith's opinion-poll business is a failure...until he discovers that the small town of Grandview is statistically identical to the entire country. He and his assistants go there to run polls cheaply and easily, in total secrecy (it would be fatal to let the townsfolk get self-conscious). And of course, civic crusader Mary Peterman must be kept from changing things too much. But romantic involvement with Mary complicates life for Rip; then suddenly everything changes.

Directed by William A. Wellman · Written by Robert Riskin

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Streaming

Rent or Buy

Cast

James Stewart Rip Smith
Jane Wyman Mary Peterman
Kent Smith Hoopendecker
Ned Sparks Ike
Wallace Ford Lou Dicketts
Regis Toomey Ed Weaver
Ann Doran Mrs. Weaver
Donald Meek Mr. Twiddle
E.J. Ballantine Moody
Ann Shoemaker Ma Peterman
Mickey Kuhn Hank Nickleby
Howard Freeman Nickleby

More from William A. WellmanSee all →

The Ox-Bow Incident

The Ox-Bow Incident · 1943

The Ox-Bow Incident

A posse discovers a trio of men they suspect of murder and cow theft and are split between handing them over to the law or lynching them on the spot.

A Star Is Born

A Star Is Born · 2018

MovieMusicDrama

Seasoned musician Jackson Maine discovers — and falls in love with — struggling artist Ally. She has just about given up on her dream to make it big as a singer — until Jack coaxes her into the spotlight. But even as Ally's career takes off, the personal side of their relationship is breaking down, as Jack fights an ongoing battle with his own internal demons.

The Public Enemy

The Public Enemy · 1931

The Public Enemy

MovieCrimeDrama

Two young Chicago hoodlums, Tom Powers and Matt Doyle, rise up from their poverty-stricken slum life to become petty thieves, bootleggers and cold-blooded killers. But with street notoriety and newfound wealth, the duo feels the heat from the cops and rival gangsters both. Despite his ruthless criminal reputation, Tom tries to remain connected to his family, however, gang warfare and the need for revenge eventually pull him away.

Wings

MovieDramaAction

Two young men, one rich, one middle class, both in love with the same woman, become US Air Corps fighter pilots and, eventually, heroic flying aces during World War I. Devoted best friends, their mutual love of the girl eventually threatens their bond. Meanwhile, a hometown girl who's the lovestruck lifelong next door neighbor of one of them pines away.

A Star Is Born

A Star Is Born · 1937

MovieDramaRomance

Esther Blodgett is just another starry-eyed farm kid trying to break into the movies. Waitressing at a Hollywood party, she catches the eye of her idol Norman Maine, is sent for a screen test, and before long attains stardom as newly minted Vicki Lester. She and Norman marry, though his career soon dwindles to nothing due to his chronic alcoholism.

A Star Is Born

A Star Is Born · 1954

MovieDramaMusic

A movie star helps a young singer-actress find fame, even as age and alcoholism send his own career into a downward spiral.

Beggars of Life

Beggars of Life · 1928

Beggars of Life

MovieAdventureDrama

After killing her treacherous step-father, a girl tries to escape the country with a young vagabond. She dresses as a boy, they hop freight trains, quarrel with a group of hobos, and steal a car in their attempt to escape the police, and reach Canada.

Heroes for Sale

Heroes for Sale · 1933

Heroes for Sale

World War I veteran Tom Holmes is marked by the unbearable suffering caused by his battle wounds. Over the years, he comes to experience both the pain of misfortune and a love for other human beings.

Westward the Women

Westward the Women · 1951

Westward the Women

There's a deficit of good, honest women in the West, and Roy Whitman wants to change that. His solution is to bring a caravan of over 100 mail-order brides from Chicago to California. It will be a long, difficult and dangerous journey for the women. So Whitman hires hardened, cynical Buck Wyatt to be their guide across the inhospitable frontier. But as disaster strikes on the trail, Buck just might discover that these women are stronger than he thinks.

Roxie Hart

Roxie Hart · 1942

MovieComedyRomance

A café in Chicago, 1942. On a rainy night, veteran reporter Homer Howard tells an increasing audience the story of Roxie Hart and the crime she was judged for in 1927.

Yellow Sky

Yellow Sky · 1948

In 1867, a gang robs a bank and flees into the desert. Out of water, the outlaws encounter a ghost town called Yellow Sky and its only residents, a hostile young woman and her grandfather.

Tarzan Escapes

Tarzan Escapes · 1936

MovieActionAdventure

White hunter Captain Fry tries to take Tarzan back to civilization, caged for public display. He arrives in the jungle with Jane's cousins, Eric and Rita, who want Jane's help in claiming a fortune left her.

Battleground

Battleground · 1949

MovieActionAdventure

Members of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division are fighting for their country amidst the rugged terrain of Bastogne, Belgium, in December 1944. Holley and his American compatriots have already seen one of their own, Roderigues, perish under enemy fire. The men try to rebuff another series of Nazi attacks, but what they really need is a change in the weather. Without clear skies, they'll never get the air support they need.

Call of the Wild

Call of the Wild · 1935

Call of the Wild

MovieAdventureDrama

Jack Thornton has trouble winning enough at cards for the stake he needs to get to the Alaska gold fields. His luck changes when he pays $250 for Buck, a sled dog that is part wolf to keep him from being shot by an arrogant Englishman also headed for the Yukon. En route to the Yukon with Shorty Houlihan -- who spent time in jail for opening someone else's letter with a map of where gold is to be found -- Jack rescues a woman whose husband was the addressee of that letter. Buck helps Jack win a $1,000 bet to get the supplies he needs. And when Jack and Claire Blake pet Buck one night, fingers touch.

Stingaree

Stingaree · 1934

MovieComedyAdventure

A young lady named Hilda who works as a servant for the wealthy Clarksons, sheep farmers, and dreams of being a great singer. An upcoming visit by Sir Julian, a famous composer arriving from London, drives jealous Mrs. Clarkson (an interfering biddy who fancies she can sing - but can't) to send away Hilda, so he doesn't hear Hilda has a good voice. Meanwhile, an infamous outlaw named Stingaree has just arrived in town and kidnaps Sir Julian, then poses as him at the Clarksons, where he meets Hilda a few hours before she is to leave.

Across the Wide Missouri

Across the Wide Missouri · 1951

Across the Wide Missouri

MovieAdventureRomance

In the 1830's beaver trapper Flint Mitchell and other white men hunt and trap in the then unnamed territories of Montana and Idaho. Flint marries a Blackfoot woman as a way to gain entrance into her people's rich lands, but finds she means more to him than a ticket to good beaver habitat.

More Like This

Bottoms Up

Bottoms Up · 2006

MovieRomanceComedy

Small-town bartender Owen Peadman goes to Los Angeles to raise money to help save his father's Minnesota restaurant. He tries to find a way into Hollywood society, where he meets socialite Lisa and her uptight actor boyfriend. Can he balance his growing feelings for Lisa with surviving the sordid lifestyles of the Hollywood elite?

Varsity Blues

Varsity Blues · 1999

MovieComedyDrama

In small-town Texas, high school football is a religion, 17-year-old schoolboys carry the hopes of an entire community onto the gridiron every Friday night. When star quarterback Lance Harbor suffers an injury, the Coyotes are forced to regroup under the questionable leadership of John Moxon, a second-string quarterback with a slightly irreverent approach to the game.

Frostbitten

Frostbitten · 2006

MovieHorrorComedy

Vampires terrorize a city in Norrbotten, Sweden.

New in Town

New in Town · 2009

MovieComedyRomance

Lucy Hill is an ambitious up-and-coming executive living in Miami. She loves her shoes, her cars, and climbing the corporate ladder. When she is offered a temporary assignment — in the middle of nowhere — to restructure a manufacturing plant, she jumps at the opportunity, knowing that a big promotion is close at hand. What begins as a straightforward assignment becomes a life-changing experience as Lucy discovers greater meaning in her life and, most unexpectedly, the man of her dreams.

Spring in a Small Town

Spring in a Small Town · 1948

Spring in a Small Town

MovieDramaRomance

A married couple living in a desolate small town in post-WWII China are paid a surprise visit by an old friend of the husband's.

Two Heads Creek

Two Heads Creek · 2019

Two Heads Creek

MovieHorrorComedy

A timid butcher and his drama queen twin sister quit the hostile confines of post-Brexit Britain and venture to Australia in search of their birth mother, but the seemingly tolerant townsfolk are hiding a dark, meaty secret.

All the Real Girls

All the Real Girls · 2003

All the Real Girls

MovieDramaRomance

In a sleepy little mill town in North Carolina, Paul is the town Romeo. But when his best friend's sister returns home from boarding school, he finds himself falling for her innocent charm. In spite of her lack of experience and the violent protests of her brother, the two find themselves in a sweet, dreamy and all-consuming love.

Georgia Rule

Georgia Rule · 2007

MovieDramaComedy

Rebellious, uncontrollable teenager, Rachel is hauled off by her dysfunctional mother to spend the summer with her estranged grandmother, Georgia. Her journey will lead all three women to revelations of buried family secrets and an understanding that - regardless what happens - the ties that bind can never be broken.

Rad

MovieDramaFamily

A BMX racer, who lives in a small town with his mother and sister, is faced with a tough decision, qualify for Helltrack or take his SATs in order to attend college.

Josie and the Pussycats

Josie and the Pussycats · 2001

Josie and the Pussycats

MovieComedyMusic

Josie, Melody and Val are three small-town girl musicians determined to take their rock band out of their garage and straight to the top, while remaining true to their look, style and sound. They get a record deal which brings fame and fortune but soon realize they are pawns of two people who want to control the youth of America. They must clear their names, even if it means losing fame and fortune.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter