The Devil Is Driving (1932)

There is a garage in downtown New York City on the ground floor of an eight-story building, with a winding ramp, that serves as a cache for stolen automobiles. The second floor is the ... See full summary »

Director:

Benjamin Stoloff

Writers:

Frank Mitchell Dazey (original story), P.J. Wolfson (screenplay),

Stars:

Edmund Lowe, Wynne Gibson, James Gleason

Cast

Cast overview:
Edmund Lowe	...	'Gabby' Denton
Wynne Gibson	...	'Silver'
James Gleason	...	'Beef' Evans
Lois Wilson	...	Nancy Evans
Alan Dinehart	...	Jenkins (as Allan Dinehart)
Dickie Moore	...	'Buddy' Evans
George Rosener	...	The Dummy
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Mac

Storyline

There is a garage in downtown New York City on the ground floor of an eight-story building, with a winding ramp, that serves as a cache for stolen automobiles. The second floor is the repair shop, with the third, fourth and fifth as storage rooms and the sixth is the paint shop, where the hot cars are quickly changed via new paint, fenders and windshields and license plates. The seventh has a speakeasy, and the eighth is the penthouse where the supposed-gang leader,Jenkins, resides in comfort, while the real head of the gang rambles about posing as a deaf-mute known as 'The Dummy." All of this goes undetected by NYC's Finest, and might have continued to do so if the ground-floor-garage manager and "front-man", "Beef" Evans , hadn't been sent on a one-way ride down the ramp, and his widow, Nancy, asked her brother, "Gabby" Denton, to investigate. Or, if Jenkins' sweetie, "Silver," hadn't gotten the sweets for "Gabby."

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Plot Keywords:

new york city | winding ramp | deaf mute | manager | repair shop | 

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Taglines:

Eddie Lowe and Wynne Gibson...Tossing Flip Cracks into the Teeth of Hell itself! (original ad)

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Crime | Drama | Romance

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 December 1932 (USA)

Also Known As:

Die Höllen-Garage

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

65 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

One of over 700 Paramount Productions, filmed between 1929 and 1949, which were sold to MCA/Universal in 1958 for television distribution, and have been owned and controlled by Universal ever since.

User Reviews

Dickie Moore is Adorable

"Beef" Evans (James Gleason) works in a crooked garage. He takes in hot cars because he wants his wife and son to have the best things in life, but his wife worries about the consequences of his actions. Rightfully so. His new hire, "Gabby" Denton (Edmund Lowe) has his own concerns, and starts investigating the details of the racket.

I saw this movie screened at Cinevent 41, and for most of the movie, the sound was out of sync. If I were too bored, I would have left, but I couldn't miss out on seeing Dickie Moore in a rare film. Even when his voice didn't match his expressions, I found myself awwing for his innocence in spite of his predictable role in the story.

This is a standard programmer with strong ties to the crime drama genre. If you're a fan of cars and pre-codes, find a copy.