The Silver Streak (1934)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Thomas Atkins

Writers:

Roger Whately (story)
Roger Whately (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

30 November 1934 (USA)

Genre:

Action | Drama

Plot Keywords:

Swimming Pool | Fuel | Secretary | Radio Announcer | Land Speed Record

Cast

Sally Blane	...	Ruth Dexter
Charles Starrett	...	Tom Caldwell
Hardie Albright	...	Allan Dexter
William Farnum	...	Barney J. Dexter
Irving Pichel	...	von Brecht, German Agent
Arthur Lake	...	Crawford, Design Engineer
Theodore von Eltz	...	Ed Tyler (as Theodor von Eltz)
Guinn 'Big Boy' Williams	...	Higgins, Train Mechanic (as Guinn Williams)
Edgar Kennedy	...	Dan O'Brien, Train Engineer
Doris Dawson	...	Molly, Dester's Secretary
Murray Kinnell	...	Doctor Flynn
Harry Allen	...	McGregor aka Mac
Wilhelm von Brincken	...	Veschensko (as William von Brincken)

Runtime:

85 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Victor System)

Certification:

USA:Approved

Company:

RKO Radio Pictures

Trivia:

The train in the film was the Chicago, Burlington, & Quincy RR's "Pioneer Zephyr" passenger train.

Goofs:

Continuity: On the cable lift on Hoover Dam, the amount of people on the lift alternates between four and six, even when it's in the air.

Zeit-Gheist Movie for the 30's

This movie really echoes the spirit of it's time. Everything then was progress & technology. The plot is the worst part of the film. It is terribly predictable & hackneyed. The film is also way short; 72 minutes for the version I have (barely 5 reels). The scenes at Hoover Dam could easily have been expanded to develop atmosphere & the brother/friend's character. The dam scenes are very interesting & show a human side to the massive project. Rail fans such as myself seek out this film (getting it is not easy) for the footage of the famous Pioneer Zephyr. This train is the forerunner of the French GTV & the Japanese Super Trains among many others. It was a technological marvel of it's time. The train has survived & is on display (magnificently restored) at The Chicago Museum of Science & Industry in a specially built vault below street level. There is an excellent use of montage early in the film as the father sees the history of railroading in his mind's eye. It is very well integrated into the story & not as 'In Your Face' as most montages are. The acting style has that curiously stiff feel of many of the early sound films. I think it has more to do with the director's uncertainty in the new technology than with the cast's talent. None of the cast were ever big time but they are attractive & reasonably well suited for their parts. I was pleasantly surprised to find it watchable. I had thought I would have to fast forward to the train footage that I bought the film to get.