Bank Alarm

Conrad Nagel is an investigator for the Justice Department. With the assistance of Eleanor Hunt, he is trying to trail down some bank robbers operating out of Hollywood. Little do the pair suspect that one of the gang is Frank Milan, who is posing as a writer and romancing Nagel's sister, Wilmer Francis.

It's the fourth and last pairing of Nagel and Hunt for Grand National, and the direction by Louis Gasnier is all right, if a bit talky. Less amusing to me is comic relief Vince Barnett. Barnett had a reputation as a real-life practical joker, but his appearances in movies tend to be mechanical and not very funny. In this one, he's a newspaper photographer whose tripod is always knocked under; he gets tangled up in the story from his second job, moonlighting as a private detective, for no obvious reason; apparently his unadorned pratfalls were considered amusing. I don't find them so.

In the 1920s, Conrad Nagel was one of those male leading men who could co-star with a woman and not overshadow her. With the dawn of sound, his cultured, recordable voice made him much in demand for a few years. However, while always competent, his appeal was rather wan; one reviewer noted "he looked like Leslie Howard without the raw Latin sexuality." Fortunately, he was well respected, was President of the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Science, did well in radio and on stage.

It's a 30's programmer, the last of a four entry series featuring Nagel and Hunt (IMDB) in the roles of detective and girl-friend assistant. The cast is lively even though there's not much suspense, while most action is goofy Barnette trying to tame his spindly camera stand. The good guys are on the trail of bank robbers who've made a series of big money heists. My favorite scene is the robbers in jail where they proceed to steal a big bundle, an imaginative idea that plays well. Adding to the plot is Nagel's sister Kay (Francis) who's unknowingly hooked up with the baddies and in danger of coming between brother and baddies. Too bad that angle is not played up more for suspense value. Then too, Barnette's role as comic relief is bigger than usual and unfortunately rivals the dramatic development. Anyway, the flick's nothing special, just an easy way to pass an hour and glimpse 30's fashions and flivvers, sort of like an installment of 30's TV if there were such a thing.

Bank Alarm is a pretty straightforward, pull no punches actioner that pits a married (nice!) couple of a G-Man and (yes) G-Woman, against a counterfeit money ring. The bad guys you see, popped the counterfeiter of the money they are planning to distribute. (thanks to the descriptions of 5! Count em! 5! Newspaper headlines we get to see), The G-People, as I like to call them, methodically step by step, follow the pieces of the puzzle until the end until it's somewhat predictably conclusion. Actually, this is so straightforward, there's hardly any suspense happening, But still, it does have it's moments, but I could have done away with the lame comedy bits provided by Vince Barnett.

I am a life-long lover of 'B' movies, especially those from the 30's but this one is so inept I'm amazed it wasn't shelved into oblivion.

Being a low-budget job is no excuse for the dreadful writing, non-existent direction, the camera shots that simply don't match, the poor editing, the always-smiling or laughing performances... and the pathetically acted 'funny-man' who provides the foil for the Thin Man-like leads in place of the latter's dog...

Believe me, the dog did better.

Bank Alarm... by the way, despite being mentioned in the opening scene, has absolutely nothing to do with alarms, and actually very little to do with banks...!

There is only ONE scene in the film worth mentioning, set in a jail... which I won't spoil for you... and that's it...!

There are hundreds of films of this genre and period, and 10 minutes from any one of them will provide more satisfaction than this entire film. Trying to defend this rubbish by saying it's 'low-budget' and a 'B-movie' is grossly insulting to all the good (even excellent) films in this category.

Even if you just like slapstick, and are under 9-years-old you can do better than this.

Such a disappointment.

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Conrad Nagel is trying to get a line on a gang of gangsters. Can he figure out the connection between Carelli's night club and all the BANK ALARMs going off in Southwest, or will he be stymied by his really stupid photographer sidekick?

This snooze of a B-movie has all the stuff you expect in a B. A really dumb sidekick. A police force worthy of Mack Sennett. A smooth talking super genius as lead detective, who suavely insults the buffoons leading the local police force. And a gangster named Corelli. The one thing it does not have is a compelling plot, since the scriptwriters decided to go for a rather bland police procedural plot, where the villains and the plot developments are easy to guess. The result is one of those under 60 minute movies that feels like a three hour epic. The only thing noteworthy is how genuinely awful the comic relief is, and how much of the running time is wasted on it. Nagel, at least, does not humiliate himself with a lousy performance, but that is the only good thing here.

Nobody should waste their time on this movie.