Heat Lightning (1934)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy

Writers:

Leon Abrams (play) &
George Abbott (play) ...

Release Date:

3 March 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Plot Keywords:

Sister | Thief | Cabaret Performer | Chauffeur | Fugitive

Cast

Aline MacMahon	...	Olga
Ann Dvorak	...	Myra
Preston Foster	...	George
Lyle Talbot	...	Jeff
Glenda Farrell	...	Mrs. 'Feathers' Tifton
Frank McHugh	...	Frank the Chauffeur
Ruth Donnelly	...	Mrs. 'Tinkle' Ashton-Ashley
Theodore Newton	...	Steve Laird, Myra's Boyfriend
Willard Robertson	...	Everett Marshall
Harry C. Bradley	...	'Popsy', a Businessman
James Durkin	...	The Sheriff
Jane Darwell	...	Gladys, the Wife
Edgar Kennedy	...	Herbert, the Husband
Muriel Evans	...	Blonde Cutie

Runtime:

63 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

USA:Unrated

Company:

Warner Bros. Pictures

Trivia:

The play opened in New York City, New York, USA on 15 September 1933 and ran for 44 performances. In the cast were Eddie Acuff, Jean Dixon, Joe Downing and Robert Gleckler.

Movie Connections:

Version of Highway West (1941)

Desert heat, strangers meet, violence flares -- granddaddy of the genre

This predecessor of The Petrified Forest (criminals on the lam change the lives of assorted characters at an isolated lunchroom) shows its origin as a Broadway play, but it's faster moving, less pretentious, and a lot less talky than the better known movie. The large cast is wonderful, especially the great Aline MacMahon; their characters well defined; and the direction and cinematography are crisp and professional. It's well worth the hour it takes to watch it.