The Adventures of Jane Arden

The Adventures of Jane Arden based on the Jane Arden comic strip with Rosella Towne starring as the Lois Lane type reporter at odds with her perpetually exasperated editor William Gargan. This was to be the first in a series of Jane Arden films had the series taken off. But it didn't.

Probably one of the reasons was a bad editing job and I doubt we'll ever see a director's cut here. Maris Wrixon who is an impoverished play girl is now working for a gang of jewel thieves when she wants out and is bumped off. Hobart Cavanaugh gets arrested for the crime and you see him and then he's just not in the film as our heroine Towne starts pursuing her own theory of the crime. Incredibly bad editing and more's the pity because Cavanaugh is always entertaining.

No mystery involved because we know who did it right at the beginning, gentleman thief James Stephenson posing as a doctor. Stephenson is the best thing about the film, a most charming, cunning, and deadly villain.

Had Warner Brothers done a better job with this film we might have seen a slew of Jane Arden films.

Rosella Towne portrays the fearless girl reporter as she goes underground to get the scoop on jewel smugglers.

Jane Arden was probably the first girl reporter comic strip when it debuted in 1928. In various forms, it ran until 1968, and foreshadowed such characters as Lois Lane and Brenda Starr. Ruth Yorke appeared as Jane in a radio series in 1938 and 1939, and that's probably where Warner Brothers got the idea to make this movie. It's clearly a B movie, with direction by Terry Morse, but the large cast, typically for Warner Brothers, has such performers as William Gargan, Benny Rubin, and Hobart Cavanaugh. The result is a watchable hour of story.

A society girl is slain by a criminal gang. The police has their scape goat but NYC reporter Jane Arden does not believe them. Arden refuses to write the story and gets fired for it. She gets a tip to a meeting. The firing is fake and they are joined by a jewelry investigator. She goes undercover to catch the real killers with stolen jewelry supplied by the investigator.

I don't understand the fake firing. Is there a point to that other than some contrived writing? The firing should be real and Arden should go investigating on her own. Ignoring that part, the story is fine. It's functional. I don't know this IP. I've never heard of it. I still don't understand the fake firing.

A fast paced, short (one hour) film. It is one of those "B" films from Warner Brothers in the 1930's and it is very enjoyable. The lead actress, Rosella Towne, is quite good in the lead role. Wonder why she never made it big in Hollywood? One will never know. The plot is as old as the hills, all about a female newspaper reporter on the trail of jewel smugglers, but this is a still a treat to watch. I recommend this little film!!

I was astonished to find this little movie on TCM which nicely illustrates how one has to be willing to explore film history in order to find some unknown gems. In this case, the jewel of the piece is Rosella Towne, a beautiful actress whose name and background were totally unknown to me after 60 years of being a movie fan and whose presence in this film lifts it far above the ordinary. Only 21 years old when the film was made, Rosella projects an image which is equal to and frequently above the performances of stars who became much more well-known during the same era. The first bit part for Rosella was in 1937 when she was 19 years old. Her career lasted until 1943, a scant 6 years later, and during this brief sojourn, she managed to knock out 34 films. When she is on screen, her presence demands that you watch her actions. The ending when she kisses William Gargan is particularly dramatic. Too bad that Rosella Towne's career did not last longer. She had a lot to offer and it is a shame that we have so few examples of her work to exhibit. During this movie, you will also need to watch for Pierre Watkin who played Perry White in the Superman series and who managed to be involved with 388 movies in a 25-year career.