The Night Flyer

Pretty good railroad movie and starring William Boyd, who would not become famous as Hopalong Cassidy for another seven years. Here he is an engineer for a western railroad which is trying to get a government contract to deliver the mail between two mountain towns. But Medicine Bend Pass is very dangerous - is there an engineer good enough to negotiate it and bring in the mail ontime? That honor will go to Hoppy's archrival, Bat Mullins. Hoppy, it seems, is a hell-raiser and has incurred the wrath of the line's president.

"The Night Flyer" is a good-natured adventure story featuring the charismatic Boyd in a crowd-pleasing role as Jimmy Bradley and tiny Jobyna Ralston as his sweetheart, Kate Murphy. His rival, on the job and off, is played by Philo McCullough, with whom I was not familiar. Both he and Boyd showed surprising acting depth and gave a one-dimensional story added substance. No surprises, no plot twists, just an enjoyable, if predictable, picture.