We arrived in Lone Pine last week a day ahead of the start of the
Lone Pine Film Festival, which meant I had time to squeeze in streaming a short 63-minute movie.
That film was HIGH TENSION (1936), a 20th Century-Fox "B" movie currently streaming on the Criterion Channel as part of a series of films directed by
Allan Dwan.
HIGH TENSION was only mildly entertaining, but as a "B" film fan it was nonetheless great to have the opportunity to see it, especially as I enjoy lead actors Brian Donlevy and Glenda Farrell.
The storyline, about underwater engineers for a trans-Pacific cable company, is a little different from the norm and one of the more interesting things about the movie. One thing I appreciate about “B” films is that even the most minor film will often provide insights into its era; in this case we see the importance of cables as a relatively fast long-distance communications tool of the ‘30s.
Donlevy plays Steve Reardon, a hard-drinking engineer who’s often at sea to repair cables. He's very talented on the job but he seems to subconsciously use drinking as a way to avoid a permanent commitment to his girlfriend, romance writer Edith "Mac" McNeil (Farrell).
Mac uses Steve as the inspiration for the hero in a series of pulpy romantic tales, but eventually the long-suffering writer has had enough of Steve's avoidance techniques.
Besides his job, the only area where Steve is completely solid is as mentor to young engineer Eddie Mitchell (Norman Foster), who gets to know Steve after bringing him safely home from a drunken bar brawl. Steve genuinely wants the younger man to succeed and is there for him when he most needs it.
Over the years I've found many Fox '30s "B" films to be quite good, with a short list of favorites including
BLACK SHEEP (1935),
ORCHIDS TO YOU (1935),
GATEWAY (1938), and Donlevy's own
36 HOURS TO KILL (1936).
HIGH TENSION unfortunately was weaker than those titles, thanks chiefly to prolonged scenes focused on Steve’s drinking, but it still proved to be a reasonably entertaining and worthwhile hour-plus.
Helen Wood is the film's second female lead. There are some fun familiar faces in this, including Hattie McDaniel, Ward Bond, Joe Sawyer, Pat O'Malley, and George Chandler.
The movie was filmed by Barney McGill.
HIGH TENSION is available on DVD from Fox Cinema Archives.
We arrived in Lone Pine last week a day ahead of the start of the Lone Pine Film Festival, which meant I had time to squeeze in streaming a short 63-minute movie.
1 Comments:
I'm purely a physical media type of guy so have not gone down the streaming route although I guess that's the only way we will get to see classic films in the future.
HIGH TENSION was OK and with that cast & director should have been better. I enjoyed GATEWAY and 36 HOURS TO KILL far better. I really miss the Fox Archive DVD's so many rare films and Laura I think you will really enjoy Donlevy & Lorre in CRACK UP especially with it's aviation theme. Other Fox Donlevy film sadly not available are HUMAN CARGO MIDINGHT TAXI and SHARPSHOOTERS-I enjoy him in his leading man days.
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