Do not let its generic, unremarkable title fool you – The Inside Story is an absolute delight. The film, which was written by Mary Anita Loos and Richard Sale (the latter a notable writer of pulp fiction) and brought to life by Allan Dwan, one of the more underrated filmmakers of the Golden Age of Hollywood, is absolutely terrific, functioning as the kind of sprawling work of unhinged produced towards the back-end of the era of screwball comedies, where many filmmakers were testing boundaries and experimenting with form and content in an effort to see what audiences would typically respond to, and what would fall entirely flat. The story of a group of individuals living in a small Midwestern town known as Silver Creek, a place in which money is a rarity and most business is conducted on the principle of trusting your neighbour in good faith is a good foundation for what is set to become one of the most interesting comedies of its era, especially as it stands in the shadow of the continuous machinations of capitalism, which seems to inform nearly everything we encounter in this film. It’s not the scathing satire we’d expect (especially since any film that showed an even remotely negative perception of capitalism was immediately considered part-and-parcel a proponent of the alternative, which may be passable from a contemporary perspective, but was outright impossible for a studio film in the late 1940s. Dwan carefully navigates both this individual story and the specific details that it represents, recreating a thrilling and enthralling comedy that has an abundance of heart and humour, and the good sense to be able to blend them together in a way that makes sense and leads to nothing but pure entertainment.

It’s easy to view this film as a relatively minor entry, but what it seems to lack in outright innovation, it more than makes up for in the sheer ambition in knowing that what it is doing is worthwhile and, most importantly, incredibly funny. It may not be a revolutionary film, but it is one with a spirited dedication to its story, which is where the film starts to become most effective. The premise is extremely simple – a small hotel in a town that most people drive through (rather than to) becomes the temporary home of the most elusive entity: money, in the form of $1000 that is being kept in the hotel for safekeeping. Each of the characters is in desperate need of a quick buck, which leads them to question their morality, especially when they learn how the solution to their problems is lurking just out of sight, ripe for the harvest. Their desperation and willingness to dabble in some petty thievery results in this wad of money to go from passively waiting under the careful watch of the eccentric Uncle Ed, to passing through the pockets of every resident and visitor to this small town, each one of them unknowingly circulating the same currency that they have been so eager to get a hold of, since it’ll likely solve all their problems and put them in a place of peace. As one of the only films where the main character isn’t human, but rather a bundle of bank notes, The Inside Story is certainly a very special production, especially when we find Dwan hitting his stride and providing us with a deeply insightful and bitterly funny comedy about ordinary people who prove that no one is immune to the lustre of the almighty dollar and the various consequences that come from being a bit too keen in your search for wealth.

The Inside Story is very much a community-based film. Dwan employs an ensemble cast, which is populated by a range of newcomers and veterans alike, each one of them being well-composed individuals, rather than poorly-constructed archetypes present to fill in quota that comes with relatively simple comedies. The film is branded as being an “Uncle Ed” story, implying the stock character of the eccentric older man with a heart of gold and a vacant brain is one that audiences would certainly have very little opposition towards, if only for the dynamic performance being given by Charles Winninger, who is truly lovable as the mischievous but good-natured hotel concierge who stands at the heart of the film’s tensions. The legendary Marsha Hunt (who is, as of writing, one of the last remaining screen sirens of the Golden Age of Hollywood) is as magnetic as ever, as is William Lundigan and Gail Patrick, who may be playing young and foolish characters, but could not be further from it when we see them in practice, especially in the later portions, when the characters start to develop a bit more confidence, especially in how the story dictates their small quirks, which the final product easily does overcome through the sheer willpower of the actors to make us laugh. The highlights of the film do come on behalf of the veterans – Winniger is terrific, as are Gene Lockhart and Florence Bates, who are absolutely scene-stealers, taking command of the screen only someone perfectly comfortable with their capacity to disappear into a character making for a vibrant and multivariate landscape that is mostly defined by the range in the characters and the specific details that they represent.

The community-based nature of The Inside Story means that there is a perpetual warmth exuding off this film, which is even more impressive considering the extent to which Dwan and his collaborators prove themselves willing to go to tell this story. The structure of the film is remarkable, even if we don’t notice it at first – the film moves at a breakneck pace, with the sheer amount of dialogue compressed into this relatively short running time only being clear once we take a few steps back and look at the film from a more objective perspective. There’s a level of detail that underpins the film that feels incredibly genuine and extremely earnest, which is not something that we necessarily expect from what appears to be a very simple comedy about trivial matters. The motif of using a literal bundle of money as the main narrative crutch was smart, since it’s not only a relatively simple item to base the story around, but it adds a level of universality to the film, since it’s unlikely that anyone who watches this film will be oblivious to the fact that, regardless of how much we avoid admitting it, money does indeed make the world go round, which is exactly what Dwann was interested in exploring here, using memorable characters as the protagonists of a thrilling and complex existential comedy that is actually far more complex than we’d expect at first glance. There’s always virtue in keeping a film exceptionally simple, since it allows us to engage with the general narrative while giving the director the opportunity to quietly subvert our expectations and infuse an otherwise unfurnished story with details that are only visible to eagle-eyed viewers, all of whom will likely appreciate the central drive of the film.

The Inside Story is not particularly well-known, and a cursory glance will likely lead you to believe it’s not a major work – and in many ways, it openly defies the idea of being original, seemingly being a film composed out of various fragments of other comedies and satires, pieced together and repurposed as some supposedly unique project. However, this is only a surface-level reading of the film, and doesn’t do much justice to one of the funniest films of the 1940s – few comedies of this era are capable of extracting hearty laughter alongside its more thought-provoking content, which is kept far more subtle, almost as if this was made by a filmmaker who was more than willing to give the audience the benefit of the doubt, granted that we were able to look beyond what was directly communicated to us at the start, and instead peer just beneath the surface to find a charming and delightful comedy with an endless amount of heart. It’s difficult to not love this film – it has some wonderful performances, the writing is sharp and Dwann ties it all together with the kind of dedication only a seasoned veteran with an extensive career could possibly muster. It doesn’t make a big impression at first, and many viewers might walk away charmed but unmoved, depending on whether the more provocative satirical elements are effective for each individual, or if they simply get lost in the shuffle. Either way, this film is a wonderfully endearing and very funny comedy-of-manners that combines all the elements needed for a great piece of humour, and presents them in a way that is accessible, endearing and undeniably hilarious.