Johnny Come Lately, James Cagney

1943. Directed by William K. Howard. With James Cagney, Grace George, Marjorie Main, Marjorie Lord. Newspaper man wanders about and helps older woman save her paper. 

Cagney stars as Tom Richards, a wide-eyed drifter who arrives to the small town of Plattsville. The year is 1906 and Plattsville is the kind of town still ruled by the morals of nice old ladies like Vinnie McLeod (Grace George), the publisher of the local newspaper “Shield and Banner", whose idealistic motto "A Shield for the Oppressed, a Banner for the Brave" is caught in the imaginary version of America that Hollywood was trying to “preserve” as World War II ravaged the globe.