Home Town Story is a 1951 American drama film directed by Arthur Pierson and starring Jeffrey Lynn, Donald Crisp, and Alan Hale, Jr.. The film features Marilyn Monroe in a small, early role. The film was backed by General Motors to promote the virtues of big business.

Plot
Jeffrey Lynn plays a defeated politician who takes over as editor of a small town newspaper in an effort to get himself re-elected. His campaign is intended to be a continuing exposé of the evils of big industry, and his strategy is to publish daily screeds against enormous corporate profits that enrich shareholders. Marilyn Monroe appears in a very small part as Iris Martin, the shapely office secretary.

On a school outing to an abandoned mine, Jeffrey Lynn’s little sister is trapped in the collapse of a mine tunnel caused as the result of a disgruntled employee’s negligence, and the town’s industries come to her rescue. After little sister is rescued and flown in a company plane to the big city, Lynn has a change of heart and recognizes that big corporations are necessary because, “It takes bigness to do big things.”

Cast
Jeffrey Lynn as Blake Washburn
Donald Crisp as John MacFarland
Marjorie Reynolds as Janice Hunt
Alan Hale Jr. as Slim Haskins
Marilyn Monroe as Iris Martin
Barbara Brown as Mrs. Washburn
Melinda Plowman as Katie Washburn
Renny McEvoy as Leo, the Taxi Driver
Glenn Tryon as Ken Kenlock
Byron Foulger as Berny Miles
Griff Barnett as Uncle Cliff Washburn
Virginia Campbell as Phoebe Hartman
Harry Harvey as Andy Butterworth
Nelson Leigh as Dr. Johnson
Speck Noblitt as Motorcycle officer