Torrid Zone

This film is basically "The Front Page" set on a banana plantation, with the "Oomph Girl" thrown in for a love interest, but somehow it manages to transcend that sort of genre-typing.

Everyone from Jimmy Cagney and Pat O'Brien (in one of the best of their 10 films together) to George Tobias shines in this snappy action-romance, sprinkled with the kind of dialogue that made the movies of the '30s and early-'40s the most fun ever. My favorite exchange in the history of film is in this movie...

Helen Vinson (Gloria) is kissing Jimmy Cagney (Nick), and her cigarette has slipped from her fingers to the floor. The camera follows the cigarette down, and then a hand reaches in from out-of-frame to pick it up...the camera pulls back to reveal Ann Sheridan (Lee):

Lee: This is how the Chicago Fire got started.

Gloria: The Chicago Fire was started by a *cow*.

Lee: History repeats itself.

Now, how can you not love a film like that? Ann Sheridan singing! Pat O'Brien conniving! George Tobias as a Latin American bandit! Jimmy Cagney with a mustache!

Sadly, Torrid Zone is not yet available on video, but it shows up on TV from time to time. Don't miss it!

This was probably meant to capitalize on the successful chemistry that Cagney, O'Brien, and Anne Sheridan had in "Angels With Dirty Faces", even though none of them play characters remotely similar to the ones they played in that film.

Steve Case (Pat O'Brien) runs a banana plantation in South America. He runs people out of the nearby town (Ann Sheridan as Lee Donley), even putting them in jail for no reason. He makes them not only leave town but go to destinations he says they should go to, and he orders the local police commandant to execute prisoners on Case's schedule. And this is supposed to be a comedy! So he basically runs roughshod over everybody whether they actually work for him or not. Case has an overblown concept of his own importance. He's farming bananas after all, not rubber during WWII.

He cons Nick Butler (James Cagney), a trusted associate, into not going back to America and instead helping him with one last task. This is made difficult by the fact that the rebel Case tried to have executed one week early has escaped, is understandably peeved, and is retaliating against Case's banana plantation. George Tobias plays the rebel, and is not very authentic as he comes across as a Brooklyn cabbie dressed up as a rebel with a badly done Spanish accent.

This has lots of dialogue that seems almost precode, even though this is 1940, and Cagney and O'Brien were always worth watching together, but the overall production is just not very good. I'd say watch it if you are a Cagney or O'Brien enthusiast. It would probably be a 4/10 or a 5/10 without them.

Even in comparison to today, when films shoot on location, Warner Brothers' tropical set looks like the tropics. It's not distracting; I'm thinking of the obvious painted backdrop in the last scene of "Treasure Island." In 1940's "Torrid Zone," Pat O'Brien is Steve Case, who manages the Banana Company in the Caribbean. His life has been no game since his co-worker, Nick Butler (Cagney) left to take a job in Chicago and continually sends him mocking telegrams - collect.

He needs Nick to take over one of the plantations, so he makes a deal with him - just work for two weeks. Nick agrees; the money will be useful.

There are also troubles with the rebel Rosario (George Tobias), who is on a hunger strike. The prison is afraid that he'll die before they can shoot him. Steve says, then just shoot him now. But Rosario escapes.

Then there is Lee Donley, an earthy, sexy nightclub singer whom Steve wants on a ship bound for the U.S. She doesn't want to go and tells Steve "The stork who brought you must have been a vulture." Lee meets Nick, and sparks fly. Nick meanwhile has a flirtation with the wife Gloria (Helen Vinson) of a former manager Bob Anderson (Jerome Cowan). Lee ends up staying at their house and walks in on a kiss between Nick and the wife. There's a lit cigarette on the floor. Lee picks it up. "I believe Chicago fire started in a very similar manner," she says. "The Chicago fire was started by a cow," an aggravated Gloria says. Lee remarks, "History repeats itself." You just can't beat dialogue like that, and that's one of the things that makes "Torrid Zone" so much fun. Cagney, O'Brien, and Sheridan are all known commodities, with Sheridan at the top of her game, sparring with both Cagney and O'Brien, looking great, and doing her own singing. When she has to be serious and heartbroken, she is.

Even Rosario's impending death is handled with some humor.

Very good and recommended, a real treat from Warners.

Good movie - love the way Ann Sheridan goes head to head toe to toe with Cagney in some very snappy dialogue.

I think this is one of the funniest comedies ever made. This film should be considered a masterpiece. James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Pat O'Brien, Helen Vinson, Jerome Cowan, Andy Devine, George Tobias and George Reeves star in this fast-paced action comedy. The dialog is very very fast and so funny. Why this film isn't on DVD is a crying shame. The real star of the movie is the legendary movie star and sex goddess Ann Sheridan. She steals every scene she is in. Its not easy to steal a film from James Cagney, but Ann Sheridan does in this one. I remember when the American Film Institute picked the 100 funniest films of all time, this was missing, but it was in their top 500 for the voting category. It should have been in the top 100 as far as I am concerned. If you never saw the film, please look for it on Turner Classic Movies they play it often. Why they don't release this movie as part of an Ann Sheridan box set is beyond me, she is an incredible actress and even a better comedienne. I won't give anything away. Just sit back and enjoy a bunch of pros do it for you.