Filmed in 1948, when a dip in the economy seemed to threaten a return to the worst of the 1930s, The Inside Story remains a surprisingly relevant fable, told largely in a flashback to the Depression years, about the need to keep cash in circulation in order to keep the economy alive. Dwan’s stimulus package is an envelope containing 00 which a befuddled clerk (Charles Winninger) places for safekeeping in the strongbox of a New England hotel. Thanks to a series of misunderstandings, the cash begins to circulate through the community, allowing the owner of the hotel (Gene Lockhart) to save himself from bankruptcy, a merchant (Will Wright) to stave off a foreclosure, a struggling artist (William Lundigan) to pay his rent, and a floundering lawyer (Robert Shayne) to reconsider his decision to commit suicide. An air of magic realism – coincidence happily piled upon coincidence – pervades this narratively complex but delightfully relaxed, observant and optimistic film, in which another pair of  supernaturally gifted outsiders – New York bootleggers, played by Allen Jenkins and William Haade – intervene to set everything right. This time, Dwan’s social network, spun from an excellent screenplay by Richard Sale and Mary Loos, includes a trio of strong women (Marsha Hunt, Gail Patrick and Florence Bates) whose dignity and composure is played in contrast to a collection of agitated, self-pitying males.

Dave Kehr