Torrid Zone (1940)

Plagued by revolutionaries that harass his plantation in a banana republic, fruit company exec Steve Case rehires former nemesis Nick Butler to restore order and profits.

Director:

William Keighley

Writers:

Richard Macaulay (original screenplay), Jerry Wald (original screenplay)

Stars:

James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Pat O'Brien

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
James Cagney	...	Nick Butler
Ann Sheridan	...	Lee Donley
Pat O'Brien	...	Steve Case
Andy Devine	...	Wally Davis
Helen Vinson	...	Gloria Anderson
Jerome Cowan	...	Bob Anderson
George Tobias	...	Rosario
George Reeves	...	Sancho
Victor Kilian	...	Carlos
Frank Puglia	...	Rodriguez
John Ridgely	...	Gardner
Grady Sutton	...	Sam
Paul Porcasi	...	Garcia
Frank Yaconelli	...	Lopez (as Frank Yaconnelli)
Dick Botiller	...	Hernandez (as Dick Boteler)

Storyline

Banana Company executive Steve Case on a Caribean plantation group tries to convince his former co-worker Nick Butler to take over the plantation No 7. But he is on his way to Chicago, to take over a job as a manager for another company himself. He has also troubles with US night-club singer Lee Donley, whom he wants aboard a ship back to the US, and rebel Rosario. He is able to get Nick to the plantation, but is he able to keep him there or will he leave it in a few days with Gloria, the wife of the former exectutive of No 7, Mr. Anderson ?

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Plot Keywords:

plantation | banana | banana republic | unfaithful wife | singer | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Comedy

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English Spanish

Release Date:

25 May 1940 (USA)

Also Known As:

Zona Tórrida

Filming Locations:

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

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros

Technical Specs

Runtime:

88 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"The Screen Guild Theater" broadcast a 30 minute radio adaptation of the movie on January 25, 1942 with George Tobias again reprising his film role.

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Goofs

In the gunfight scene between Butler's group and Rosario's group, Rosario shoots Butler and Butler appears to be grabbing his right arm as he goes down. In the next shot, he is now tending to his wound on his left arm. Later in the scene, after they catch Rosario, Rosario bumps Butler's hat as he walks by.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Nick Butler: [to Lee] You and your 14 karat oomph!

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Connections

Referenced in Anything But Love: The Torrid Zone (1991)

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Soundtracks

"Mi Caballero"
(1940)
Music by M.K. Jerome
Lyrics by Jack Scholl
Sung by Ann Sheridan (uncredited) in the hotel bar

User Reviews

The Front Page goes South of the Border

Torrid Zone pretty much is The Front Page with a smattering of Red Dust for added flavor, with Pat O'Brien (who played Walter Burns in the original Broadway production and Hildy Johnson in the 1931 film of the newspaper classic) the unscrupulous banana exporter trying to trick Jimmy Cagney's plantation manager back into his old job in a corrupt South American hellhole, with Ann Sheridan's singer-cum-card-sharp providing the romantic sparks and George Tobias' lovable revolutionary making things difficult at the workplace. Familiarity rather than originality is on the menu, but it's served up with panache and pace and the best production values Warner Bros. can offer. Helen Vinson doesn't exactly offer much competition for Sheridan, Andy Devine and Frank Puglia provide the comic relief, Jerome Cowan, Bogart's ill-fated partner in The Maltese Falcon, is still having wife troubles as Cagney's intended replacement and TV's original ill-fated Superman, George Reeves, turns up as a treacherous plantation worker.

The biggest surprise is the year of production – despite having a classic mid-Thirties look, it was actually made in 1940, although that's probably more of a plus than a minus.