The Silk Express (1933)

Director:

Ray Enright

Writers:

Houston Branch (story), Houston Branch (screenplay),

Stars:

Neil Hamilton, Sheila Terry, Arthur Byron

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Neil Hamilton	...	Donald Kilgore
Sheila Terry	...	Paula Nyberg
Arthur Byron	...	Conductor Clark
Guy Kibbee	...	Railway Detective McDuff
Dudley Digges	...	Professor Axel Nyberg
Arthur Hohl	...	Wallace Myton
Allen Jenkins	...	Robert 'Rusty' Griffith
Harold Huber	...	Train Guard Craft
G. Pat Collins	...	Train Guard Harry Burns (as George Pat Collins)
Robert Barrat	...	Mr. Calhoun, Attorney
Vernon Steele	...	Dr. Harold Rolph
Ivan F. Simpson	...	Johnson, Kilgore's Secretary (as Ivan Simpson)

Storyline

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Plot Keywords:

new york city | train conductor | sabotage | african american | invalid | 

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Genres:

Drama | Mystery | Thriller

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Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 June 1933 (USA)

Also Known As:

O Expresso da Seda

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

61 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

User Reviews

Good Warners Crime Story

The Silk Express is a fast moving crime story loaded with Warners' supporting actor regulars: Guy Kibbee, Robert Barrat, Harold Huber, Allen Jenkins and Arthur Hohl. For train fans, there are scenes of an actual train filmed for the movie, along with stock footage of a train going through a snow storm on the way to New York. If the basis of the screen story seems odd, about importing a load of silk to break the "corner" a speculator has on silk supplies, at least the story is different. Warner Bros. in 1933 had an unequaled team of professionals who could turn out polished movies on the cheap. There are probably as many scenes in this 62 minute movie as a 90 minute movie now. And, just like in another Warners crime movie, Fog Over Frisco, when someone receives a telegram, you see an authentic looking telegram on the screen. The only things out of place in The Silk Express are the leads, Neil Hamilton and Sheila Terry, apparently brought in on a trial basis to see if they were Warners material. They did not stick around at Warners. Soon they would have company, as Jack Warner's cost cutting at the studio caused a migration of acting talent to other studios (among them Loretta Young and William Powell). The Silk Express is an example of the quality that Warner Bros. routinely put on the screen from 1931 to 1934, movies set in the Depression-era present that have not dated as badly as the studio product from MGM and other studios.