Buy Me That Town (1941)

"Buy Me That Town" is comedy that now seems to be sadly locked away in Twentieth Century - Fox's film vault. Hopefully , it still exists, and will be rediscovered some day. The script was based on a Damon Runyon story about a racketeer, played by the always excellent Lloyd Nolan, who buys a bankrupt small town, in order to exploit it for taxes, and make it an asylum, or a safe haven for crooks needing protection from the law. Crooks, that is, willing to pay big bucks for that privilege! The local jail turns in quite a place. Bread and water is replaced champagne and steak. As the word gets around, felons from all over descend on the town for safety, and a darn good time. Of course, there are lots of complications, and this cozy relationship of housing big time criminals turns out to have negative aspects -- to say the very least! Eventually, the cynical Nolan turns in to a nice guy, and even brings in a war plant to revive the town's economy. A wonderful cast, and excellent direction from veteran Eugene Forde make this film a delight.