The Adventures of Jane Arden

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.

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.

"The Adventures of Jane Arden" is an orphan film: It was supposed to be the first in a series about a popular comic strip heroine, but the series never got rolling.

Audiences presumably didn't warm up to this movie, but it's hard to understand why. Compared to most of the "B" cheapies of its time, it's excellent. Though it's short (about an hour), it starts with a bang and rolls right along. And its obscure star, Rosella Towne, is really good.

Jane Arden, spunky girl reporter, is said to have been the inspiration for the later but better-remembered comic strip character Brenda Starr. Jane's strip died out sometime in the 1960s, but judging from her brief film career, I wish she were still around. It was a pleasure making her acquaintance.

Rosella Towne wears clothes beautifully, moves well, is pretty, and has great comic timing. Why had I never heard of her before this turned up and what happened to her career?

This is an entertaining romantic comic newspaper crime story. Maris Wrixon is a chic bad girl who reforms a little late and James Stephenson, always good, is conniving as the heart throb of a smuggler/killer.

But it's Towne's movie.l And three cheers for her!

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.