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:

Train | 12 Chapters | Railway | Serial

Cast

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

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

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)

cool trip back in time

I watched the eighty minute condensed version of this show and actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Unfortunately, the DVD i bought wasn't made from a great print(i would certainly buy a better one if could). Anyhow, it was a very fun trip back in time to the days when John Wayne was a young pup and Hollywood was becoming, well, Hollywood.

As you might expect the condensed version was very fast moving and there were lots of stunts, some really scary, like when Wayne or a double jumps from a moving car onto a moving train. Yikes!!! You had to be crazy to be a stuntman back in those days.

The story isn't really that much by todays standards but it makes for a pretty good little action film. The girl is cute and yeah I'm sure she and Duke probably saw some action between takes. Ha, why not? I'm sure that the entire serial would prob get boring so don't waste your time with that, the short version works really well. Hopefully you can get a better transfer though. Overall, this is a nice time capsule that takes you back to a earlier and more innocent America and Hollywood. If nothing else you might enjoy the vintage trains, planes, and automobiles. The DVD i bought included this movie and three more and i paid fifty cents for it at kroger. This movie was the second best behind Paradise Canyon which was a great movie and was made from a great print.