Expresso da Aventura

One caveat I have to give this particular review. I saw an abbreviated 80 minute version of this serial which was almost unintelligible to follow. Not that I think the full length version would have put The Hurricane Express right up in cinematic history with Gone With the Wind.

John Wayne did three serials for Mascot and this particular one must have been edited down for a feature length movie to take advantage of his growing popularity in the Forties. The plot such as it is involves John Wayne as the son of engineer J. Farrell MacDonald who is killed in a planned train wreck.

The mysterious guy doing all these wrecks is someone appropriately called The Wrecker. He's got one interesting gimmick, he wears incredibly life like masks of all the other folks that are suspected of being the Wrecker. Fools everybody of course until the Duke catches on.

If this version of The Hurricane Express came out in the late Forties, what must John Wayne have thought when such things as Red River, Fort Apache, etc. were being released? The Duke must have shuddered.

In a random moment to homage a few actor's who attended the 'Save the Rose Theatre' spectacular street event in1989, I watched a classic from the '40's featuring Roy Roger's, upon same compilation DVD, there's an R. Scott feature but also the trimmed serial of Hurricane Express.

If there's a mystery worth pursuing purely for cultural nostalgia it has to be how the many earliest B & W serial westerns, turned a completely average actor, into the phenomenon that was 'John Wayne'. Something that even the many tribute documentarys have barely scratched the surface.

This serial has strong historical aspects in many of its vehicular scenes that rivals the 'Keystone Cops' or 'Charlie Chaplin' features, its weakness is from the mutilation that condensed editting of 12 episodes does to create a re-releasable movie.

Production values of the original are clearly shown to emphasise the stock single placement of camera with minimal focus or extra lighting. Giving the film, more a variety of grey hues to give sense of depth, completely inadequate to enable more emotive range for the cast.

Fortunately, what remains of its convoluted plot is more that enough to pursue 'Action', and this has more old-style brawls and chase scenes than you'll find in any modern feature.

In relative comparison, the closest series in modern terms of storyline and effects to this would be 'Mission Impossible' in either '60's or Cruise control era's.

As for resolving the two mysteries?

Well there's the Mascott, itself in one scene only, sadly the Wayne factor appear to have been removed in the trimming, as dramatically even the heroine gets enough involvement to be strongly regarded a bonus for actress Shirley Grey, who survived the switch to colour features extending career in acting by 30+ roles.

The full length version runs about 227 minutes. "Gone With the Wind",long known for its length, has a run time of about 222 minutes. To experience the full historic flavor of an old time serial, I suggest trying the full length version, but try it as it was originally viewed. (An episode at a time!) Lots of thrills, chills, and spills, and a mystery that can't be solved until the very last episode in which the murderer turns out to be XXXXX. Bit of trivia: The plane used in the movie is a Ford Tri-Motor. (Old Henry built about 200 of them, largely at the instigation of his son Edsel.)In some scenes, its identification has been painted over. In other scenes it can be read. The plane is model 5-AT-49 registration number NC-8411, built in 1929 and destroyed in a crash in the mountains of Columbia in 1939. The "TAT" (Transcontinental Air Transport) logo is visible on the plane. (The fore-runner of Howard Hughes' TWA.)All interior scenes were shot in a prop department mock up with increased height and width. Of especial note is the single throttle. The Ford Tri-Motor had three! Dean Jacksonville, FL (Where Shirley Gray died in obscurity.)

"The Hurricane Express" is a very low budget movie serial from tiny Mascot Studios. And, because of this, there isn't a whole lot to distinguish it other than one big thing--it stars a very young John Wayne. If it weren't for this, I doubt if many people would ever want to see the film. It just isn't very good.

The film begins by introducing Larry (John Wayne) and his father. Larry is a pilot and his dad has been an engineer for the railroad for many years. However, soon the father is killed--the result of someone sabotaging the rails. Who would do this and why would they do it? Larry was determined to figure this out for himself--and thus goes the rest of this 12-part serial. At the end of each part, there is, of course, some cliffhanger that makes it APPEAR that he is killed--but naturally, Larry has found some ridiculous way to somehow survive. It turns out that the sabotage is NOT the work of some nut, but a guy called 'The Wrecker'--but who the wrecker is you need to wait until part 12 to learn. In the meantime, he and his gang try again and again to sabotage the rails.

When you watch the film you'll probably notice a few things. First, the film is very quiet. The usual incidental music is gone--partly because early sound films sometimes missed this and partly because the production was so cheap that they couldn't afford it. Also, the condition of the print is not particularly great--but much of this is because of the degradation of the film and has nothing to do with the original quality of the serial. As for the writing, it's pretty poor--with lots of action but not a whole lot in depth or believability. It's quite a step below the quality of a serial from a decade later. Not terrible...just not all that good.

"The Hurricane Express" was one of three serials that John Wayne made for Nat Levine and Mascot Pictures after leaving Columbia Pictures following a run-in with mogul Harry Cohn over the affections of a young starlet.

The Mascot serials were always fast paced and full of action and this one is no exception. The story revolves around a mysterious character named "The Wrecker" who is bent on destroying the L & R Railroad. He causes the wreck of the Hurricane Express in which engineer Jim Baker (J. Farrell MacDonald) is killed. His son Larry (Wayne), an airline pilot vows to avenge his father's death. And that's basically it.

Wayne goes through the rest of the serial trying to identify "The Wrecker" and bring him to justice. Is the villain Edwards (Tully Marshall), the General Manager of the railroad; Stevens (Conway Tearle) the railroad attorney; Walter Grey (Lloyd Whitlock) the head of the airline; Stratton (Edmund Breese) an escaped convict who claims to have been set up by the railroad; Jordan (Matthew Betz) an engineer who was fired and has vowed revenge or is it Carlson (Alan Bridge) a station agent?

Aiding Baker is the lovely Gloria Martin (Shirley Grey) who turns out to be Stratton's daughter. Appearing as "The Wrecker's" henchmen are Ernie Adams, Charlie King, Glenn Strange and Al Ferguson. Complicating matters is the fact that "The Wrecker" can impersonate anybody by donning a life like mask of that person. Never mind that he can also apparently assume their physical characteristics and clothing as well.

After 12 chapters, a number of false leads and red herrings "The Wrecker" turns out to be.......wait, no, no...Bam! Bam!..aaaargh!

John Wayne was quite young and very athletic at the time this serial was made and can be seen clearly performing many of his own stunts. The winsome Grey was also at Columbia at the same time as Wayne and even appeared in a picture or two with him. I wonder..hmmmm.

These old serials also provide a snapshot of the times. I particularly enjoyed seeing the old cars, trains and planes. A bit dated but a nevertheless enjoyable piece of nostalgia.