The Hurricane Express (1932)

User Rating:

6.0/10   

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)

I've Been Wrecking on the Railroad

One caveat I have to give this particular review. I saw an abbreviated 80 minute version of this serial which was almost unintelligible to follow. Not that I think the full length version would have put The Hurricane Express right up in cinematic history with Gone With the Wind.

John Wayne did three serials for Mascot and this particular one must have been edited down for a feature length movie to take advantage of his growing popularity in the Forties. The plot such as it is involves John Wayne as the son of engineer J. Farrell MacDonald who is killed in a planned train wreck.

The mysterious guy doing all these wrecks is someone appropriately called The Wrecker. He's got one interesting gimmick, he wears incredibly life like masks of all the other folks that are suspected of being the Wrecker. Fools everybody of course until the Duke catches on.

If this version of The Hurricane Express came out in the late Forties, what must John Wayne have thought when such things as Red River, Fort Apache, etc. were being released? The Duke must have shuddered.