The Hurricane Express (1932)

Directors:

J.P. McGowan
Armand Schaefer

Writers:

Colbert Clark (story)
Wyndham Gittens (story)

Release Date:

1 August 1932 (USA)

Genre:

Adventure | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

A THRILLER of the ROARING RAILS In Twelve Crashing Episodes!

Plot:

The Wrecker wrecks trains on the L & R Railroad. One of his victims is Larry Baker's father. Baker wants to find the evildoer...

Plot Keywords:

12 Chapters | Railway | Serial | Train

Cast

Tully Marshall	...	Howard L. Edwards, Railroad manager
Conway Tearle	...	Stevens, Railroad attorney
John Wayne	...	Larry Baker
Shirley Grey	...	Gloria Stratton, aka Gloria Martin
Edmund Breese	...	Frank Stratton, Gloria's father
Lloyd Whitlock	...	Walter Gray, Airline manager
Al Bridge	...	Carlson, Plainville station agent (as Alan Bridge)
Matthew Betz	...	Tom Jordan, Railroad engineer (as Mathew Betz)
Joseph W. Girard	...	Det. Matthews (as Joseph Girard)
James P. Burtis	...	Det. Hemingway, Matthews, assistant (as James Burtis)
Ernie Adams	...	Henchman Barney, Machine gunner (as Ernie S. Adams)
Charles King	...	Henchman Mike
J. Farrell MacDonald	...	Jim Baker, Railroad engineer [Chs. 1, 5]
Al Ferguson	...	Henchman Sandy, The "Wrecker's" pilot
Glenn Strange	...	Henchman Jim

Runtime:

USA:227 min (12 episodes) | USA:79 min (edited for TV)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Germany:12 (DVD) | UK:U | USA:Passed (National Board of Review)

Filming Locations:

Bronson Caves, Bronson Canyon, Griffith Park - 4730 Crystal Springs Drive, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Mascot Pictures Corporation

Trivia:

Chapter Titles:

• 1. The Wrecker
• 2. Flying Pirates
• 3. The Masked Menace
• 4. Buried Alive
• 5. Danger Lights
• 6. The Airport Mystery
• 7. Sealed Lips
• 8. Outside the Law
• 9. The Invincible Army
• 10. The Wrecker's Secret
• 11. Wings of Death
• 12. Unmasked

Movie Connections:

Remade as Mystery Mountain (1934)

Don't Bother: Haven't You Got Something Better To Do?

I own and have watched the Alpha Video feature version of the serial. The problem with feature versions of serials is that they leave out so much; a lot of them jump too fast leaving out details behind certain dialog or sequences, which makes them hard to follow; or else the back and forth nature of the action seems pointless and tedious. There are many, many examples of this such as "Planet Outlaws" the feature version of "Buck Rogers" (1939) "The Phantom Empire," (1935) "Dick Tracy Vs. Crime Inc." (1941) among many.

The exceptions are "Rocketship" (1936) the excellent shortened first "Flash Gordon" serial and "The Lost Jungle" (1934), which is actually a real improvement over and practically a different film from the serial it came from.

This one, however, is in the category of something you watch while you're doing something else. Although John Wayne has a few good lines, and seems to do a lot of the action stunts himself, the feature version really points up the weak nature of the story. The bad guys (including the underutilized Charles King) seem to want to spend all their time trying to recover some gold stolen from a train, the Hurricane Express.

Watching this you think, don't these evil villains have anything better (or since they are villains, worse) to do? Well, while watching it, you realize that you do, but you may not have anything else planned. So let me give you some tips for things you could be doing while playing this video: Organize all the clothes in your closet. Go thru the week's mail and throw away the junk. Delete unnecessary e-mails. Pay your bills. Organize your video collection-- I do mine chronologically, but maybe you do yours alphabetically. File important papers. Lie on your bed and read something while you listen to the movie.

Good luck! I'm sure you'll be able to think of something worthwhile to do while watching this version of "The Hurricane Express."