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What's After the Movie?
Romantic comedy

The Town Went Wild (1944): Cast & Plot

The Town Went Wild (1944) movie poster

The Town Went Wild is a 1944 romantic comedy directed by Ralph Murphy, starring Freddie Bartholomew as David Conway, Ruth Lee and Minna Gombell. It runs 1 hour 17 minutes.

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The Town Went Wild (1944) movie poster
Released
Runtime
1h 17m (77 min)
Director
Ralph Murphy
Genres
Comedy , Romance
Original language
English
Studio
PRC
After the credits
No No extra scene
The story

What Is The Town Went Wild About?

The premise of The Town Went Wild without spoilers. The whole story is in the plot summary further down.

A farcical comedy about two long‑standing rivals whose families are thrown into chaos when they learn their newborn sons were mistakenly swapped at birth. The discovery means the young woman one father is about to marry is actually his biological daughter, igniting a series of comic misunderstandings as everyone scrambles to untangle the mess.

The Town Went Wild Themes & Keywords

· 50 tags
  • family affairs
  • accidental incest
  • talking scene with no audible dialogue
  • city hall
  • brother sister kiss
  • woman wears a beret
  • guilt trip
  • written prologue
  • everyday life during wartime
  • family feud
  • elopement
  • mother son hug
+38 more
  • sexy sister
  • forbidden love
  • allergy
  • birth certificate
  • haberdashery
  • teenage brother and sister
  • listening to a radio drama
  • booby trap
  • female judge
  • double date
  • convertible
  • mother kisses adult son on the lips
  • switched at birth
  • man in pajamas
  • brother kisses sister on the lips
  • wolf whistle
  • newspaper headline
  • brother sister marriage
  • pretending to be in pain
  • electric fence
  • brother and sister hold hands
  • swing and a miss
  • pince nez
  • brother and sister in love with each other
  • girl next door
  • waiting
  • birth mark
  • reenactment
  • awkward family dinner
  • wedding
  • holding hands over one's ears
  • brother and sister date
  • brother sister romance
  • switched identities
  • neighbors in love with each other
  • paternity question
  • scandal
  • wanting to elope
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Cast & crew

The Town Went Wild Cast & Characters

Freddie Bartholomew leads the cast as David Conway, with Ruth Lee as Lucille Conway and Minna Gombell as Marian Harrison. Directed by Ralph Murphy; 21 actors are credited in all.

Also Starring in The Town Went Wild

· 17 more
Show all 21 cast members
From the director

More from Ralph Murphy

More films directed by Ralph Murphy: Captain Pirate, Lady in the Iron Mask, Never Trust a Gambler and Stage to Tucson.

Full filmography
Plot

The Town Went Wild Plot Summary

What happens in The Town Went Wild from start to finish, spoilers included, with a timeline of 12 key events. The opening is below; the full summary is a 1-minute read.

Spoilers ahead

Like Romeo and Juliet, two next-door neighbors David Conway, Freddie Bartholomew and Carol Harrison, Jill Browning, are deeply in love despite a lifelong feud between the Conway and Harrison families. Their fathers, Everett Conway, Edward Everett Horton, and Henry Harrison, Tom Tully, have carried that quarrel into adulthood, a history that shadows the lovers’ plans and their future.

David, who is preparing to depart for the Alaskan Territory to work as an engineer for the United States Government, and Carol decide to elope. To witness the ceremony at a nearby Justice of the Peace, David recruits his best friend, Bob Harrison, Jimmy Lydon, while Millie Walker, Roberta Smith, who has a crush on Bob, rides along to drive them to the town and also serves as a second witness.

Full summary

The whole story of The Town Went Wild, scene by scene

Read the full summary
Quiz

How Well Do You Know The Town Went Wild?

10 questions about the story, each with a hint if you get stuck. Pick an answer to see whether you were right.

Question 1 of 10

  1. Question 1: not answered
  2. Question 2: not answered
  3. Question 3: not answered
  4. Question 4: not answered
  5. Question 5: not answered
  6. Question 6: not answered
  7. Question 7: not answered
  8. Question 8: not answered
  9. Question 9: not answered
  10. Question 10: not answered

What are the names of the two young lovers at the center of the story?

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FAQ

The Town Went Wild FAQ: Cast, Runtime & Release Date

Runtime, release date, director, cast and post-credit scenes of The Town Went Wild, each answered in a sentence.

How long is The Town Went Wild?

The Town Went Wild runs 1 hour 17 minutes (77 minutes).

When was The Town Went Wild released?

The Town Went Wild was released on December 15, 1944.

Who directed The Town Went Wild?

The Town Went Wild was directed by Ralph Murphy.

More films by Ralph Murphy

Who is in the cast of The Town Went Wild?

The Town Went Wild stars Freddie Bartholomew as David Conway, Ruth Lee as Lucille Conway and Minna Gombell as Marian Harrison, among 21 credited actors.

Does The Town Went Wild have a post-credit scene?

No. The Town Went Wild has no extra scene during or after the credits.

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