Heat Lightning

In the Mohave Desert, Olga and her younger sister Myra run a gas station with diner in the middle of nowhere. Olga is perfectly happy with the isolation but Myra would like to go someplace, any place. The remote outpost gets a surprising number of visitors over a day's time including two bank robbers. One of them is Olga's former boyfriend Jerry and she knows he's up to no good. Then two rich dames stop by when their driver schemes for a rest.

I like the chaos of people keep showing up at this little place. I would like the filming to take place in the openness of the desert. It could have been epic in cinematography. I would also like for a more epic shootout. The story builds up so much possibility. It's almost anti-climatic but there is a bit of poetry in its execution. I really like the width of characters in this movie, even with some of side characters. From the first bickering couple to the two female hitchhikers, this movie is filled with great characters. I would love to see this remade with more noir touches.

Heat Lightning was an early work by George Abbott, written and directed by him in 1933 it had only a run of 44 performances in that anemic Depression Era season on Broadway. It was not the best work Abbott was ever associated with, but I'm sure he was grateful that Warner Brothers bought the screen rights in those cash strapped times.

It stars Aline McMahon and Ann Dvorak as a pair of sisters running a filling station, automobile camp out in the American west, very similar to the one Bette Davis and her family was running in The Petrified Forest. They're both a bit antsy being stuck out in the desert without the attention of the male of the species. But McMahon's been around the track a little too often and she tries to steer Dvorak right.

The guy who gave her that ride a few times is Preston Foster and he's shown up with pal Lyle Talbot. On the lam as it turns out, but the sisters don't know it. Foster's putting the moves on Dvorak and McMahon ain't having any of that. Truth be told she's got a bit of a yen still left and the desert isolation ain't curing the yen.

Some other characters pop up in this drama, a pair of would be divorcées heading for Reno with their 'chauffeur' played by Glenda Farrell, Ruth Donnelly and Frank McHugh. Also at the beginning Edgar Kennedy and Jane Darwell are a married couple going west. I wish we could have seen more of them. In fact I'm surprised that Jack Warner didn't recognize a good potential comic team there and made more films with them.

As you can see there are a lot of similarities to The Petrified Forest, but I think that even with the tragedies that befall both Humphrey Bogart and Leslie Howard there, The Petrified Forest is a more optimistic play. Bette Davis does get her chance to leave and see the wider world. Not quite what happens here, but I can't say more.

As compared to some of the legendary work George Abbott was associated with on stage Heat Lightning is definitely minor league. Yet it's not a bad piece of work, definitely in keeping with the times. Mervyn LeRoy did a good job in filling the screen and striking a nice balance between the comic and the dramatic. Very typical of what came from the working man's studio.

Nice, noir-ish 1934 quickie, with a highly likeable Lyle Talbot in the lineup, no less. The switch from location shooting to stage settings is a bit jarring, but no less so than most TV shows of the 1960s and 1970s, which went from on-site filming to a fake backdrop, sometimes within the same scene (from Gunsmoke to Mannix to the Wild, Wild West). And the sets, while not convincing, are quite artistically conceived, with a memorable heat lightning effect. The swift pacing is rather remarkable for the era, and Aline MacMahon gives a mesmerizing performance, though her character seems to shift from weak to iron-willed a little too casually. But that's where the swift pacing makes any doubtful character motivation irrelevant--the viewer is too caught up in the fascinating, nonstop story (laced with comedy bits which have held up amazingly well). Lyle Talbot makes a superb wimpy sidekick, though a couple of times he seemed to be on the verge of laughter. A gem!

Heat Lightning is tied with The Adventure of Robins Hood as my favorite Warner's film. It's always a pleasure to watch Aline MacMahon, but here I think she gives an Oscar worthy performance. She and Preston Foster smolder! Aline's slowly changing attitude is wondrous to behold. Her final scene with Foster is memorable. A lot of the Warner's stock company come and go throughout the film, always giving freshness to their roles. The daytime location and cinematography perfectly capture the feel of the desert. (I live near Tucson.) The night time scenes, although well matched, are shot on a sound stage, and so, are not as effective. But I suppose they were necessary for the lightning effects. This a film that will stay with you. And make you want to watch it again.

In many ways, this film reminds me of another Warner Brothers film made just a few years later, "The Petrified Forest". Both are set at isolated gas stations in the desert and both involve gangsters who come there to seek shelter. However, the films are certainly different enough to make it worth seeing them both.

Olga (Aline MacMahon) is a world-weary soul who has chosen to move into the middle of nowhere because she's tired of people. Her sister, Myrna (Ann Dvorak), however, isn't tired of people and yearns for excitement and men-- and the pair couldn't be more different. Into their very dull and predictable lives come an assortment of folks to stay at their gas station/motor court. One pair are a couple of divorcées on their way from Reno after their latest conquest. Another are a pair of crooks on the run from the law. In a coincidence you'll only see in a play or movie, it turns out the boss (Preston Foster) was once Olga's lover! What's next? See the film.

There are two main things going for this film--Foster and MacMahon. Their characters are interesting and the final scene between them is something to see! Unfortunately, Dvorak's role is very whiny and annoying--and the character significantly impairs the film with her overwrought performance. Overall, it is worth seeing but is far from brilliant work from the studio.