I came across this by accident and discovered that over time people have lost sight of this movie and that is a shame. Herman Tibbits (Paul Guilfoyle) gets out of five years in prison and just wants to be a duck farmer. His wife Goldie is not sure she wants that and thinks that one more robbery would help them considerably. In an attempt to steal what they think is $50,000 they meet up with a struggling writer named Mike Winslow (Lee Tracy) who is on the same train as them heading to Hollywood.
There are many plot lines to this movie. Winslow is trying to get in good with Barbara Lang (Joan Woodbury), who wants to be an actress. Mike wants to write movie scripts for Wonder Studios. Herman and Tibbits want to go straight and work with Winslow. In fact, it is Herman who knows how to be a real robber and that is what helps Winslow write very effective movie scripts. Turns out they are too effective as they are based on Herman's life before prison and that makes the attention of The Hawk (the head of the gang that Herman had been part of) who the movies are about.
It is all of that coming together that makes this such an interesting movie. The movie keeps up a steady, increasing pace throughout. The dialogue is crisp and well written. The start of the movie lays out a very solid foundation. The middle builds the pace and the ending has a lot of action. It is amazing that a 65 minute movie has so much in it and yet doesn't leave you wondering what got missed (nothing does). 9/10
There are many plot lines to this movie. Winslow is trying to get in good with Barbara Lang (Joan Woodbury), who wants to be an actress. Mike wants to write movie scripts for Wonder Studios. Herman and Tibbits want to go straight and work with Winslow. In fact, it is Herman who knows how to be a real robber and that is what helps Winslow write very effective movie scripts. Turns out they are too effective as they are based on Herman's life before prison and that makes the attention of The Hawk (the head of the gang that Herman had been part of) who the movies are about.
It is all of that coming together that makes this such an interesting movie. The movie keeps up a steady, increasing pace throughout. The dialogue is crisp and well written. The start of the movie lays out a very solid foundation. The middle builds the pace and the ending has a lot of action. It is amazing that a 65 minute movie has so much in it and yet doesn't leave you wondering what got missed (nothing does). 9/10