Postal Inspector (1936)

Postal inspectors track down money stolen from a railroad car.

Director:

Otto Brower

Writers:

Horace McCoy (screenplay), Horace McCoy (story)

Stars:

Ricardo Cortez, Patricia Ellis, Michael Loring

Cast

Credited cast:
Ricardo Cortez	...	Inspector Bill Davis
Patricia Ellis	...	Connie Larrimore
Michael Loring	...	Charlie Davis
Bela Lugosi	...	Gregory Benez
Wallis Clark	...	Inspector Gil Pottle
Arthur Loft	...	Inspector Gene Richards
David Oliver	...	'Butch'
Guy Usher	...	Evans
Bill Burrud	...	Billy, The Boy (as Billy Burrud)
Harry Beresford	...	Ritter
Spencer Charters	...	Grumpy
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Alfonso Corelli	...	Man calming crowd in night club
Frank Wilcox	...	Postmaster General

Storyline

Postal inspectors track down money stolen from a railroad car.

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Plot Keywords:

postal inspector | police shootout | speedboat | mail | post office | 

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Taglines:

The Daring Exploits of Secret Agents of the Mail Service!

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Genres:

Crime | Drama

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Certificate:

Not Rated

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

16 August 1936 (USA)

Also Known As:

Inspetor Postal

Filming Locations:

Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

58 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Noiseless Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Soundtracks

Let's Have Bluebirds on All Our Wallpaper
(uncredited)
Music by Irving Actman
Lyrics by Frank Loesser

User Reviews

The Mail Must Go Through

***SPOILERS*** Strange movie, even for one with Bela Lugosi in it,thats a combination of a crime/drama & musical/comedy with a bit of a disaster movie thrown in for good measures. Ricardo Cortez plays Gung-Ho Postal Inspector Bill Davis who's so off-the-wall that in one of the scenes that he's in he jumps from something like a 100 foot plank, minus his well-pressed suit, into the flooded streets below. In doing that Davis risks a broken neck in order to save a postal crook who was no more then a few yards away from a police speed-boat that was just about to rescue and arrest him anyway, without Inspector Davis foolishly risking his life.

There's a number of songs sung in the movie by nightclub singer Connie Larrimore, Patricia Ellis, and a duet at the end of the film with Connie and her fiancé and brother of Postal Inspector Davis Charlie, Michael Loring, who's also a Federal Treasury Agent. The "Golden Eagle" nightclub owner Greg Benez, Bela Lugosi, is in big trouble with the local mob loan shark when he gets a telegram that another nightclub owner, Fred Commings owner of the Jack-O'-Lantern, was gunned down for not paying back his load from the mob. Benez is out $50,000.00 to the mob and is two weeks behind in his payments.

"Golden Eagle" singer Connie Larrimore talking to both Postal Inspector and Federal Agent Bill & Charlie Davis get some inside information from big-mouth Charlie that he's going to send through the US mail $3,000,000.00 of used ten dollar bills to the Washington D.C Treasuary Dept. The bills are to be put out of circulation by having them incinerated.

Later Connie talking to her boss Mr.Benez unwittingly tells him about the cash transaction through the local mail and Benez sees an out in getting the money that he owes the mob as well as pocketing the rest, $2.950 Million, for himself. The Benez gang steals Charlies car and uses it to corrals and rob the mail truck with the 3 million dollars in cash going back to the Treasuary Department and also shoots and kills the driver. This all happens as the town of Yarborough, where the movie takes place, is being flooded by a heavy downpour with the local river overflowing its banks.

When the police and Postal Inspector Davis find the car belonging to Charlie at the crime scene they feel that he committed the crime but his brother Bill gives him two hours to come up with who really did it feeling that he's innocent. Later Benez and his gang kidnap both Charlie and his girlfriend Connie who went to Benez's place in order to find out who in the club took Charlie's car. This later leads to the exciting final speed-boat chase scene through the flooded streets of Yarborough with Charlie & Connie ramming a platform from where Benez and his hoods are trying to escape from the police knocking them all down and into the floodwater's below.

Bela Lugosi is very subdued and, uncharacteristically, dull as the nightclub owner and mobster Greg Benez and has a supporting, but not his usual leading, role in the film. Which didn't give him that much screen time to really do "His Thing".

Both Patricia Ellis and Michael Loring were adequate as the singer and Fed Agent, as well as lovers, in the movie but Ricardo Cortez was really over-the-top as Postal Inspector Bill Davis. Davis spouting platitudes about the wonderful US Post Office in almost every scene he's in that you for a moment thought you were watching a commercial for the USPS. Even though he tried to play his part as seriously as possible Inspector Davis did have a very strange sense of humor in the film. Postal Inspector Davis almost hanged and electrocuted, this was supposed to be his idea of comedy relief, a fellow postal worker in his office with gadgets that were illegally sent through the US Mail.

Inspector Davis also seemed to be more worried about the mail of the Yarborough Post Office getting soaked by the raging floodwater's engulfing the town then he was worried about the lives and safety of the postal workers working there.