DANGER LIGHTS is a kind of industrial melodrama, a genre inherited from the 19th century _machinism and industrialism, and illustrated by Victorians, Zolists, Naturalists, in cruder or softer tones, more or less subtle, whimsy and sophisticated, according to will and market; its outer, and often most immediate appeal, is to exalt energy. With it goes the documentary style, a _documentarian approach, unpolished and lean—as a (more or less) artistic representation of the economic life. Proletarian types like Gabin and Tracy, moderately glamorized working class tough guys, were designed for this kind of outings.
In DANGER LIGHTS, morality full of proletarian spunk, also steeped in railroad mythology and oozing with blue collar wisdom, a hobo finds a generous employer who's willing to give him a chance and pair him with a locomotive. The golden—hearted, presumably asexual employer, played by Wolheim, pushes his girlfriend, a gentle babe, into the hobo's arms, thus taking generosity to a new level; manipulative and hearty, he looks more like a dirty pimp, pushing that girl away. What else, Jean Arthur looked reasonably nice, in fact she's straight hot; Louis Wolheim didn't (--he was more of a Malden type, if you take my meaning--), instead he was set to reform Robert Armstrong (--who is supposed to look manly; he looks chiefly libidinous, also mean and heinous--).
Old—timers Bonfire, a house, an office, a depot are the sets of DANGER LIGHTS. The script is primitive, lazy slapdash, the style is likable, endearing, and the storytelling—almost charming. I liked Mrs. Arthur and I liked the movie's neat, clean, unpretentious style, its simplicity and nakedness and sense of storytelling.
In DANGER LIGHTS, morality full of proletarian spunk, also steeped in railroad mythology and oozing with blue collar wisdom, a hobo finds a generous employer who's willing to give him a chance and pair him with a locomotive. The golden—hearted, presumably asexual employer, played by Wolheim, pushes his girlfriend, a gentle babe, into the hobo's arms, thus taking generosity to a new level; manipulative and hearty, he looks more like a dirty pimp, pushing that girl away. What else, Jean Arthur looked reasonably nice, in fact she's straight hot; Louis Wolheim didn't (--he was more of a Malden type, if you take my meaning--), instead he was set to reform Robert Armstrong (--who is supposed to look manly; he looks chiefly libidinous, also mean and heinous--).
Old—timers Bonfire, a house, an office, a depot are the sets of DANGER LIGHTS. The script is primitive, lazy slapdash, the style is likable, endearing, and the storytelling—almost charming. I liked Mrs. Arthur and I liked the movie's neat, clean, unpretentious style, its simplicity and nakedness and sense of storytelling.