High Voltage

In spite of the fact that this film stars Carole Lombard, I recommend that you pass on this one. The story is that a bus is trying to cross Nevada's alkali flats when a winter storm hits and forces the passengers to take refuge in an abandoned church miles from the nearest town. Carole Lombard plays Billie, a young woman being taken to prison. The other passengers include the cop that is accompanying Billie, a young girl, a banker, and, of course the bus driver. The group enters the church to find they are not alone. Bill (William Boyd) has found shelter there too, has a large stash of food, and wants to order everyone around.

This is one of those films in which a bunch of characters of diverse backgrounds are forced to sit through a crisis and talk about themselves. However, "Petrified Forest" this is not. Because it is an early sound film the director seems to think somebody has to be saying something all of the time, whether or not it is interesting or done in a non-monotonous tone. It will be the longest hour in your life. The only thing worse than boring stilted conversation is boring stilted conversation you can't hear well.

It's now 2021, 16 years since OP voiced his review, and I agree 100%. This film is 92 years old, and having just recently watched John Wick: Parabellum, I think I'd still rather watch hokey little films like this. Folks in 1929 were still in awe of moving and talking pictures, some called it a fad that wouldn't last. Imagine their shock that 92 years later we can watch the same film on a little screen that we can hold in our hand. I love the scenes of the stranded travellers playing on the frozen lake, even with the poor sound consistency.

And, that BUS! Wow! Wish I owned one of those babies!

Many films have used the title "High Voltage" over the years, and by modern standards, this one isn't exactly electric.....but it has its pluses. With several outdoor scenes, it's less stagey than many early talkies. Even with the dated plot and dialogue (remember, this film is now nearly a century old) leading man William Boyd shows a more modern quality than many leading men of the time, as does talkie newbie and future superstar Jane Alice Peters---here billed as Carol Lombard, with the "e" to be added later. If you like to sample what Old-Old Hollywood had to offer, give this a watch. Slightly more than an hour long, it's worth it just for the historical value and talent of the leads.

OK the movie is none too clever, but I did enjoy one or two things. I was impressed that the filmmaker allowed off-screen dialogue although obviously hampered by the difficulty in being unable to have different sound levels. I guess I was most impressed by my first encounter with William Boyd. I guess his hokey, folksy voice went a long way in his future career as "Hopalong", but I must say that I was bowled over by his assured performance and his naturalistic style which for the late twenties was a breath of fresh air. He was particularly impressive in his reflective and thoughtful facial expressions. I sense that his style was ahead of its time and that he could have been a great actor in the Gene Hackman mould in the modern movies.

The screen's future Hopalong Cassidy William Boyd starred in this early talkie with Carole Lombard. High Voltage teams the two of them as they're stuck in an abandoned church during a blizzard in the High Sierras.

Lombard is a fugitive going back with Detective Owen Moore to face trial and imprisonment on a bus which would today just qualify as a van. Two other passengers are young bride Diane Ellis and banker Phillips Smalley. Driver Billy Bevan rather stupidly decides to push on and gets stuck in the snow drifts. Fortunately there's a church isolated out there that they can see and they make for it for shelter.

Where they find it's already occupied by William Boyd who is far from the cowboy hero of Hopalong Cassidy. In fact Boyd is a wanted fugitive and he's got a cache of food for himself alone and he's not looking for company to share it.

Of course being stuck the way they are nature takes its course and Lombard finds a way to melt poor Boyd in all that snow.

For a film entitled High Voltage not much electricity was being generated from the team of Lombard and Boyd. It looked to me like the whole cast was a bit nervous of the new sound motion pictures. Phillips Smalley in a voice that might have been dubbed sings a lyric tenor number to keep the group entertained and Billy Bevan who was a music hall entertainer in his native Australia as well as the United Kingdom did a couple of numbers as well on the church piano. They were the highlights of the film.

Fans of Carole Lombard might want to check this out to see her in a very early sound film and Hoppy fans might want to see Bill Boyd in another role, but High Voltage should not generate too much interest elsewhere.