Tonight's Movie: Torrid Zone (1940)

TORRID ZONE is a zippy romantic comedy with great dialogue and charismatic leads in James Cagney and Ann Sheridan.

The setting is a Central American banana farm, where Pat O'Brien, who plays Cagney's cagey boss, manipulates Cagney into staying on the job after Cagney's resignation. Sheridan enters the mix as the pretty new American in town; despite her propensity for cheating at cards, Cagney can't help being attracted to her, and vice versa.

Some critics have compared the film's plot to THE FRONT PAGE and HIS GIRL FRIDAY. The script is quite funny, and in a couple of spots it's surprisingly provocative for the era. Cagney is particularly terrific; I loved watching his reactions. He's completely invested in the film physically, whether it's making small, funny gestures or executing surprising gymnastic maneuvers. Sheridan lives up to her marketing name as the "Oomph Girl," particularly in her first scene.

Cagney and O'Brien, lifelong friends, costarred in a total of nine films together, while Cagney and Sheridan were paired in two other films.

The great supporting cast includes Andy Devine, Grady Sutton, George Tobias, and Helen Vinson. The film was directed by William Keighley, and the cinematographer was James Wong Howe. The movie was filmed in black and white and runs 88 fast-paced minutes.

TORRID ZONE will be available on DVD as part of the James Cagney Signature Collection due to be released on April 24, 2007. It will also be available as a single title DVD release. It does not appear to have been previously released on video. (March 2018 Update: TORRID ZONE is being reissued on DVD by the Warner Archive.)

TORRID ZONE is also shown on cable as part of the TCM library.

TCM has the trailer available to view online here. It does a good job capturing the spirit of the film. Definitely a movie worth checking out.