James Stewart is back as Mr. Smith, but this time he isn't that naive country bumpkin who became a Senator and went to Washington. Here, he's a cynical New York idea man whose recent business (collecting public opinion) has failed. Smith gets the idea of going to Granview, a medium sized town whose statistics perfectly match the national average. Wanting to find out what makes this town tick and stay so quaint, Stewart and his cohorts (Donald Meek and Ned Sparks) go there where they upset the apple cart by convincing the town council that they don't need to go along with newspaper editor Jane Wyman's plans to expand the town and bring in new business. Wyman plants a negative story about Stewart in the paper, and their confrontation turns to attraction and leads to romance. Stewart keeps the truth about his true identity to himself, and when the story breaks, Grandview is all of a sudden a mecca for people looking for Ideal Town U.S.A. But as fast as interest explodes, it declines, making the people of Grandview come off as fools and desperate for a way not to be categorized as a national joke.

Robert Riskin, who spent years as Frank Capra's writer for such classics as "Mr. Deeds" and "Mr. Smith", is away from Capracorn here, and instead has William Wellman (director of 1937's "A Star is Born") in charge. Producing as well as writing, Riskin utilizes all of the tricks that made Capra's corny tales so popular, but comes up with a concept so convoluted and irritating that it ends up being an overly chatty mess. Still, he has a great cast of Hollywood's best character actors to work with, and two extremely popular stars in Stewart and Wyman, fresh from Oscar Nominated work in "It's a Wonderful Life" and "The Yearling", respectively. Crusty Ned Sparks, who must have been the offspring of a dill pickle and an overripe lemon, is the Walter Matthau of his era, and always funny. The appropriately named Donald Meek is a Wallace Shawn ("The Princess Bride", "My Dinner With Andre") look-alike. These were possibly the last appearances of both, and even with the film's mediocrity, a great swan song for them.

The problem with the film is that it doesn't seem to know when to quit, which towards the end makes the film come off as pretentious and quite obnoxious. Stewart, the epitome of the "every man", got a disappointing follow-up to "Wonderful Life", while Wyman is never totally likable as the driven editor. There are some amusing moments, and it is touching to see Stewart reaching out to the teenagers of the town, but when all is said and done, "Magic Town" ends up as one of the biggest duds of the 40's.

Okay, I'll admit the plot is silly and contrived. Sure, the idea of an actuary determining that there is a "perfect" city that is actually statistically represents America in a microcosm is silly. And, their plan NOT to tell anyone in the town but surreptitiously poll just these townspeople in order to find out what America thinks about a wide variety of issues is far-fetched. BUT, with Jimmy Stewart and Jane Wyman as well as William Wellman's direction, who cares?! This is one of those "just sit back and enjoy" pictures that isn't particularly deep but that is charming and great fun to watch. And I think we need a few films like this now and again.

A charming Capraesque satire that lacks bit but contains warmth and mild amusement.

Rip Smith (James Stewart) is a pollster who has a theory that somewhere in America there is a small town which a cross section of the public whose make up and views reflect the wider USA.

He finds out that Grandview is that town and with his team pretending to be insurance salesmen they conduct their surveys. These plans are threatened when a local lady Mary Peterman (Jane Wyman) wants to expand the town with new buildings which Smith feels might upset the balance of the town. Peterman then later finds out Smith's real agenda and that the town is used for his own company's financial gain.

Pretty soon every media organisation and pollsters come to Grandview seeking the townsfolk opinions but their behaviour changes and so do their opinions no longer reflect the wider nation.

The film loses its satirical edge for a sentimental love story but it still an enjoyable story with pleasing leads.