2hotFeature
one of my absolute favorites!
Smartorhypo
Highly Overrated But Still Good
Kirandeep Yoder
The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.
Winifred
The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.
JohnHowardReid
A hic-cup in the Torchy Blane series, Torchy Blane in Panama (1938), droped the Farrell-MacLane combo in favor of Lola Lane and Paul Kelly. Despite an ingeniously fast-paced script and admirably deft direction by William Clemens, this entry was not popular with audiences who clamored for the restoration of the team, Farrell and MacLane.Never one to disappoint the picturegoing public, producer Bryan Foy rushed his original stars into Torchy Gets Her Man (1938). On this excursion, Torchy uncovers the brains behind a counterfeiting racket. Another tightly-written script, another great assembly of top-notch character players, plus - would you believe? - a really outstanding music score. Glenda Farrell so enjoyed getting Her Man with director Bill Beaudine who encouraged her to set a new record in speedy dialogue delivery, she specifically asked Bryan Foy to assign him to Torchy Blane in Chinatown (1939). Many critics actually regard this entry as the best in the series. Certainly the support line-up headed by Henry O'Neill, Patric Knowles and James Stephenson surpassed even the highest standards of the other entries. Just the presence of James Stephenson alone guaranteed a high audience impact. Stephenson, who was on the verge of major stardom after his riveting performance in The Letter (1940), died in 1941 just as he was about to reach the top. A stage-trained actor with a magnetic personality, rugged yet soulful features and an expressive voice of unique timbre and resonance, Stephenson never gave a less than compelling performance in his life.
utgard14
The seventh in the Torchy Blane series and the penultimate one for Glenda Farrell and Barton MacLane. This time our heroes try to foil an extortion plot. As with the last film, this one has a different vibe to it than the first four Farrell movies. The focus isn't mostly on Torchy, but rather the cops and the criminal plot. Great supporting cast that includes Henry O'Neill, Patric Knowles, Frank Shannon, James Stephenson, and Janet Shaw. The regulars - Farrell, MacLane, and Tom Kennedy - are all good.This one has a more of a Charlie Chan feel to it, and not because of the Chinese elements. The villains' plot isn't obvious and keeps the viewers (and the dimwitted coppers) guessing. The climax is hilariously offensive, so a point for that, but also has annoying music that doesn't quite fit the on screen action and goes on too long, so deduct a point for that. Worth a look for fans of the series or just B movies in general. But this isn't Torchy Blane at her best.
el Cambion
TORCHY BLANE IN CHINATOWN 1938Barton Maclane, Glenda Farell. From the Torchy Blane series. Classic fast-talking good-guy police detective MacBride and his girl, Torchy (reporter). I have a love/hate relationship with this whole series (nine of them). This one was one of the better ones. A blackmail case.But throughout the series Torchy, a pretty reporter, is constantly trying to snoop into ongoing police investigations, jeopardizing her own and other peoples' lives, not to mention stealing or tampering with evidence. She is always on the verge of getting arrested or rubbed out by the murderers or gang members. So she's irritating.I'd rate the similar "Maisie" series (with Ann Sothern) higher.
Charles Herold (cherold)
I'm always drawn to 40s B movies about wisecracking investigators, but some are better than others, and this one is definitely a lesser example of the genre. Farrell's performance as brassy reporter Torchy feels thin, and the lead detective is bland, although I rather liked the odd romance between the two.Tom Kennedy, on the other hand, was quite amusing as a doofus cop.As for the story, well, it was really moronic. Of particular note was how terrible the lead cop was, constantly assuring people he would protect them and failing to do so, yet never losing confidence and, more amazingly, never getting in trouble. And no one ever said, "I don't trust you because you gave the same assurances to the last guy" (although ultimately you could make a case for why that ultimately makes sense).I think that will be it for me and Torchy Blane movies.
