"Cross Country Cruise" is a somewhat lighthearted title, for this totally entertaining little film has a strongly and unapologetically lurid undertone, all the while with a view to how people try to manipulate others, conspire to take advantage of others, and actually try to damage and even deal death to others in their efforts to seek life's desires and goals.
The story of how strangers on a cross-country bus schedule back in 1934 interact is the premise, and the delivery of the several primary relationships to the viewer is marvelous and wholly admirable. The characters are diverse and fascinating and the performances by the cast are, in general, done fully effectively. Lew Ayers is somewhat milky (as he often is) in this one, but Alan Dinehart, June Knight, and Alice White are all fully magnificent. Cameos and other support staff are all richly presented, too. I expect the cast knew that the story was quite far-fetched and incredulously appointed, but the crew probably really enjoyed making this flick. It really is a fantasy.
One aspect that really took hold for me was the glimpse of America in general-- and bus travel therein, in particular-- in 1934. Intercity bus travel was burgeoning in the early 1930s, as folks took to travel in ever-growing numbers, despite the Depression holding sway over the country. Bus transportation allowed people to move around more than ever as the country's road system began to take shape. By 1934 intercity bus travel, especially that provided by the rapidly-expanding network offered by Greyhound Lines, became reliable, relatively safe, and economical.
The other 1934 film in which bus travel was integral was "It Happened One Night," but "Cruise" took the bus component to an even more central level, being that the bus endured as the movie set for the entire program.
It was interesting that the film employed an actual Greyhound bus for the trip, as did "It Happened One Night," instead of using an unmarked coach, as so many other films where bus travel is featured have done (with all the shady doings going on in the movie, it is interesting to conjecture if Greyhound would today allow its name to be used in this one).
It was neat to see that a lavatory was on-board the coach, as was a drinking water dispenser with cups, along with sleeping pills, of all things. And did the schedules actually stop at front-line city-center hotels for 3- and 4-hour rest stops and shopping forays, and at county fairs for home-cooked meals and dancing, as depicted? Maybe they did then, as 1934 was just before the time when the golden era of bus station construction was beginning (and which examples were still bountiful and used as bus stations into the early 21st century).
All in all, watching "Cross Country Cruise" with this assemblage of diverse characters is a fun experience despite (or maybe even partially because of?) the fantastic story elements. An unusual movie worth watching for fans of 30s movies!
