I don't known what it was about Hollywood in the 1930s, but there's a certain class of movie of which we got a glut in those first years after the talkie became the predominant form. No few titles of the decade are competently made, with a duly engaging narrative of some variety, but carry themselves with such an unbothered, even-keeled tone that it's all too easy to tune in and check out, and one has to be careful that they don't blink and miss five or ten minutes. Is it that studios were relying on the conglomeration of light AND sound to entrance viewers, so they could get by with material and execution that was less robust? Is it that filmmakers were broadly still acclimating to shooting with sound, and in one capacity or another the end product suffered? Were writers pressured to churn out one screenplay after another, whether to make a quick buck during the Great Depression and/or to take advantage of the new advances, and quality suffered in turn? I don't know what the answer is, but 'Bank alarm' fits the bill neatly.
It's not bad. There's some light humor, though some is overly silly, as if two different screenplays were written for this crime story - one a drama, the other comedy - and they were smashed together into one with a resulting uneven tenor. The story is fine, though with the way it's assembled here there's no possibility for major excitement, as half the puzzle pieces are largely laid out for the audience before the characters find them, and the other half are revealed with that same unbothered, even-keeled tone. The cast give suitable performances; the stunts and effects are capably executed. All the fundamentals are fine: direction, cinematography, editing (if sometimes too curt), sets, costume design, hair and makeup (if less than remarkable). And so on, and so on. We sit, we watch, the plot turns in this or that direction, an hour passes, and then we move on with our day and remember nothing about the viewing experience. 'Bank alarm' is hardly the only picture to share these characteristics, but that doesn't make it better.
If you're looking for something light, a feature that doesn't require substantial commitment as a viewer even at the climax, and don't mind some ham-handedness, you could do a lot worse. If you're looking for something that will keep you firmly enraptured and heavily invested, a masterpiece of cinema that you will think about for a long time to come, keep on looking. There's even some minor cleverness here, if you don't blink and miss it, but one way or another this is far from a must-see. If you happen across it and are so inclined, there are worse ways to pass the time than 'Bank alarm.'
