It's a Small World
Brief Synopsis
Cast & Crew
Irving Cummings
Spencer Tracy
Wendy Barrie
Raymond Walburn
Virginia Sale
Astrid Allwyn
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Jane Dale, a St. Louis society girl vacationing with her mother in New Orleans, takes her cousin Nancy Naylor's car to return to St. Louis, as she's tired of reading tabloid accounts of Nancy's third divorce. Jane, a reckless driver, crashes into lawyer Bill Shevlin's car on a country road in Louisiana, when Bill moves into the oncoming lane to let a herd of cattle pass. A calf is killed in the accident, and Bill scoffs when Jane threatens to sue him. The two bicker and banter the whole night until the judge of a nearby town comes by the next morning and tows their cars. The judge tries Bill and Jane in his court for neglectful recklessness. Bill is found guilty and must pay a fine, but Jane flirts with the townies, who then act as witnesses and unanimously state her innocence. Jane has Bill's car stripped of its parts in order to repair her own battered vehicle, and when she can't pay him the money for the parts, the judge evokes the Napoleonic code, which gives Bill the right to "seize the body" of the debtor. Jane says that she'd rather go to jail than be under Bill's authority, but when the ingenious lawyer brings a group of town drunks to the jail cell, she loses her courage. The couple flirt while washing dishes at the hotel that night, and later they discuss marriage, with Bill admitting his hatred of divorce as he sees scores of women every day who come into his office for their fourth and fifth divorce. Later Cal, the car mechanic, informs Bill that Jane's car is registered under the name Nancy Naylor and that he discovered a court summons for a divorce hearing in her glove compartment. Bill recognizes Nancy's name and believes that he has been made the fool by this thrice-divorced society girl. He confronts Jane, who cries and flees. The judge discovers that Jane has stolen the car that she is driving, and Bill realizes his mistake. He finds Jane, reaffirms his vow of love, and they leave as Jane's mother, Nancy and Jane's former fiancé, Freddie Thompson, arrive. The couple happily drive past the group in the car built with their united parts.
Director
Irving Cummings
Cast
Spencer Tracy
Wendy Barrie
Raymond Walburn
Virginia Sale
Astrid Allwyn
Irving Bacon
Charles Sellon
Nick Foran
Belle Daube
Frank Mcglynn Sr.
Frank Mcglynn Jr.
Bill Gillis
Ed Brady
Harold Minjir
Charles R. Moore
Frank Austin
Bob Mckinsey
Sam Adams
Lew King
Frank Watson
W. H. Davis
Crew
Edward Butcher
S. C. Chapman
William Darling
Phil Ford
Sam Hellman
Hubert
Arthur Lange
Joseph Lashelle
Gladys Lehman
Arthur Miller
Albert Treynor
F. Mcgrew Willis
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
cop
Notes
The plot summary was based on a screen continuity in the Twentieth Century-Fox Produced Scripts Collection, and the onscreen credits were taken from a screen credit sheet in the Twentieth Century-Fox Records of the Legal Department, both of which are at the UCLA Theater Arts Library. This was English actress Wendy Barrie's first American film. According to information in the legal records, Vivian Tobin was originally cast as "Nancy Naylor" and Robert Burns as "Buck Bogardus." According to a Daily Variety news item, Spencer Tracy was hit above the right eye with a plate durig a dish-tossing scene between him and Wendy Barrie, and production was stopped for a few days because the wound prevented Tracy from wearing heavy makeup. A Film Daily news item noted that a transplanted barn on director Irving Cummings' estate in the San Fernando Valley, which formed a background for the first production he ever acted in, At the Window, in Mount Vernon, NY, would be used as a background in this film.
