Breakinger
A Brilliant Conflict
AutCuddly
Great movie! If you want to be entertained and have a few good laughs, see this movie. The music is also very good,
DipitySkillful
an ambitious but ultimately ineffective debut endeavor.
Edgar Allan Pooh
. . . of the 3 hour, 46 minute, 59 second 12-chapter "Mascot Serial" version of THE HURRICANE EXPRESS would technically be qualified to rate or comment about this flick. (That's 13,559 seconds, for the mathematically challenged, like my sister.) For ease of reference, your twelve chapters (with their time splits) are: 1)The Wrecker (28:43), 2)Flying Pirates (16:35), 3)The Masked Menace (17:15), 4)Buried Alive (19:26), 5)Danger Lights (16:48), 6)The Airport Mystery (19:47), 7)Sealed Lips (18:19), 8)Outside the Law (19:00), 9)The Invisible Army (18:29), 10)The Wrecker's Secret (16:26), 11)Wings of Death (17:26), and Unmasked (17:45). As he doddered toward Oblivion, John Wayne campaigned desperately to eclipse the 259 feature film credits of his late henchman, Ward Bond. In order to inflate his work record from the 166 features on his filmography for this site (and all other credible listings) by another 94, Wayne counted each of the serials he appeared in (such as HURRICANE) as TWELVE feature film roles, rather than one (even though 11 of the chapters in each serial ran for LESS than 20 minutes!). Wayne also awarded himself a theatrically-released feature film credit for each of his TV situation comedy cameo guest bows, as well as counting coup every time he made the annual Oscar Awards broadcast as either a losing nominee or a seat filler.
JohnHowardReid
Pulp fiction at its best. True, the continuity is somewhat jerky, shots don't always match smoothly, the sound recording is a bit primitive, the acting amateurish, the plot ridiculous, and dialogue straight out of the Boy's Own Paper. But what do all these things matter when the movie is directed with such vigor and pace? The story tears along with action, action all the way. Car chases, train wrecks, plane crashes, fist fights, shoot-outs, stunts galore — including one of the most thrilling I've ever seen when the villain jumps from the roof of a speeding train to a rope ladder dangling from an overhead plane. Blonde Jean Harlowish Shirley Grey (we assume that's how she spells her name, though the credits have it Gray) makes an attractive heroine and figures in quite a lot of the action, whilst Wayne (oddly he is inclined to over-act here, when usually he veers to the other extreme) makes a personable hero. Good to see Tully Marshall heading the support cast, and Edmund Breese (a natural Walter Brennan type who needs little make-up to make him look scruffy) in a major role. Little Ernie Adams has the unlikely part of the Wrecker's chief thug (though he manages it well enough), while Charles King and Glenn Strange back him up. For train buffs of course The Hurricane Express is an absolute must. For serial lovers, it's great fun. One wonders how a Poverty Row outfit like Mascot was able to persuade a railroad to lend them such a vast amount of rolling stock and stage such spectacular crashes and near-misses. Doubtless J.P. McGowan's connections proved useful here!Definitely one of the most exciting and fascinating of the early sound era, independent cliff-hangers.
asinyne
I watched the eighty minute condensed version of this show and actually enjoyed it quite a bit. Unfortunately, the DVD i bought wasn't made from a great print(i would certainly buy a better one if could). Anyhow, it was a very fun trip back in time to the days when John Wayne was a young pup and Hollywood was becoming, well, Hollywood. As you might expect the condensed version was very fast moving and there were lots of stunts, some really scary, like when Wayne or a double jumps from a moving car onto a moving train. Yikes!!! You had to be crazy to be a stuntman back in those days. The story isn't really that much by todays standards but it makes for a pretty good little action film. The girl is cute and yeah I'm sure she and Duke probably saw some action between takes. Ha, why not? I'm sure that the entire serial would prob get boring so don't waste your time with that, the short version works really well. Hopefully you can get a better transfer though. Overall, this is a nice time capsule that takes you back to a earlier and more innocent America and Hollywood. If nothing else you might enjoy the vintage trains, planes, and automobiles. The DVD i bought included this movie and three more and i paid fifty cents for it at kroger. This movie was the second best behind Paradise Canyon which was a great movie and was made from a great print.
bsmith5552
"The Hurricane Express" was one of three serials that John Wayne made for Nat Levine and Mascot Pictures after leaving Columbia Pictures following a run-in with mogul Harry Cohn over the affections of a young starlet.The Mascot serials were always fast paced and full of action and this one is no exception. The story revolves around a mysterious character named "The Wrecker" who is bent on destroying the L & R Railroad. He causes the wreck of the Hurricane Express in which engineer Jim Baker (J. Farrell MacDonald) is killed. His son Larry (Wayne), an airline pilot vows to avenge his father's death. And that's basically it.Wayne goes through the rest of the serial trying to identify "The Wrecker" and bring him to justice. Is the villain Edwards (Tully Marshall), the General Manager of the railroad; Stevens (Conway Tearle) the railroad attorney; Walter Grey (Lloyd Whitlock) the head of the airline; Stratton (Edmund Breese) an escaped convict who claims to have been set up by the railroad; Jordan (Matthew Betz) an engineer who was fired and has vowed revenge or is it Carlson (Alan Bridge) a station agent?Aiding Baker is the lovely Gloria Martin (Shirley Grey) who turns out to be Stratton's daughter. Appearing as "The Wrecker's" henchmen are Ernie Adams, Charlie King, Glenn Strange and Al Ferguson. Complicating matters is the fact that "The Wrecker" can impersonate anybody by donning a life like mask of that person. Never mind that he can also apparently assume their physical characteristics and clothing as well.After 12 chapters, a number of false leads and red herrings "The Wrecker" turns out to be.......wait, no, no...Bam! Bam!..aaaargh!John Wayne was quite young and very athletic at the time this serial was made and can be seen clearly performing many of his own stunts. The winsome Grey was also at Columbia at the same time as Wayne and even appeared in a picture or two with him. I wonder..hmmmm.These old serials also provide a snapshot of the times. I particularly enjoyed seeing the old cars, trains and planes. A bit dated but a nevertheless enjoyable piece of nostalgia.
