Following the poorly written & repetitive The Adventurous Blonde Warner Brothers redeemed themselves with the lively Torchy Blane in Panama (1938). This entry forgoes the mystery angle and focuses on adventure as the intrepid heroine investigates a crime and follows her instincts to Central America. Glenda Farrell and Barton MacLane had temporarily left Warner Brothers which necessitated recasting the lead roles: enter contract players Lola Lane and Paul Kelly. While this is a stumbling block for many devotees of the series if one accepts the film on its own merits and goes along for the ride without comparisons there is much to enjoy.
During a Leopard Lodge parade a bank is robbed and the teller killed. Steve McBride and his new press buddy Bill Canby arrive at the bank before Torchy Blane. While Canby gets the initial leg up on her by breaking the robbery story Torchy finds a clue in the bank: a Leopard Lodge pin. In keeping with the established formula Steve won't listen to Torchy and is blindsided when he reads about her discovery in the newspaper. He's initially dismissive of her theory, too: the culprit will use the Leopards as cover and launder the money in Panama during their cruise back to Los Angeles. Unbeknownst to Torchy Steve has a change of heart and books a trip for himself, Gahagan, and Canby aboard the ship. The intrepid Ms. Blane is not so easily outmaneuvered, however, and she devises a daring method of intercepting them on the high seas. The rest of the narrative involves tracking down the culprit and following him to his fence in Panama.
Many fans will regard the casting of Lola Lane as the equivalent of replacing Sean Connery with George Lazenby in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. However, as with that film, if one avoids making comparisons it is easy to accept the performer in the role. Miss Lane could fast patter with the best of them and certainly pull off the tough dame act. As Torchy she is believably resourceful and energetic while generating solid chemistry with her Stevie Weevie. Miss Lane also has a great character-defining scene as she makes an impassioned plea to Maxie to allow her to pursue her story citing the "ink in my blood." There's no way on earth she will allow herself to be scooped by a rival and conceives a clever and daring way to catch up with her competition: parachuting out of a plane , landing in the ocean, and forcing the ship to pick her up.
Paul Kelly likewise does an acceptable job as Steve McBride. While not being as comically exasperated as Barton MacLane when dealing with the shenanigans of Torchy and Gahagan he adopts a more deadpan approach which works just as well. However, the character is still the same as he frequently dismisses Torchy's ideas and is several steps behind her in the investigative department.
Tom Kennedy is afforded his most screen time to date as Gahagan and is given ample opportunities to steal the show. While being as dimwitted as ever he does contribute some value to the proceedings and actually proves to be useful. Other members of the regular supporting cast are on hand to ensure the viewer this is still a Torchy Blane film. Frank Shannon, George Guhl, and Joe Cunningham are present as Captain McTavish, Desk Sergeant Graves, and Maxie Monkhouse, respectively.
Of course it wouldn't be a Torchy Blane film without some recognizable faces in bit roles, either. John Ridgely has a small scene as Sparks, the ships radio officer, while Carole Landis is glimpsed as Miss Leopard 1938. Meanwhile John Harron ascends to the credited cast list as the pilot who wings Torchy to her parachute drop point. James Conlon, previously seen as the comical coroner in two earlier entries, is on hand as a Botkin, one of the Leopards.
Briskly directed by William Clemens, Torchy Blane in Panama provides an entertaining narrative that unfortunately resolves itself with the intrepid heroine getting herself in jam and needing to be rescued by Steve and the boys. This is an unfortunate contrivance begun by the previous picture and perpetuated throughout the remainder of the series. The relationship between Torchy and Steve likewise gets stuck in neutral with proclamations of love and promises of marriage that are never fulfilled. However, while this film proved to be a one-and-done for Lola Lane as the heroine her casting cemented the creation of another famous female reporter. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster took the spirit of Torchy Blane plus the name of her onetime enactor and amalgamated them into Lois Lane of the Daily Planet.
During a Leopard Lodge parade a bank is robbed and the teller killed. Steve McBride and his new press buddy Bill Canby arrive at the bank before Torchy Blane. While Canby gets the initial leg up on her by breaking the robbery story Torchy finds a clue in the bank: a Leopard Lodge pin. In keeping with the established formula Steve won't listen to Torchy and is blindsided when he reads about her discovery in the newspaper. He's initially dismissive of her theory, too: the culprit will use the Leopards as cover and launder the money in Panama during their cruise back to Los Angeles. Unbeknownst to Torchy Steve has a change of heart and books a trip for himself, Gahagan, and Canby aboard the ship. The intrepid Ms. Blane is not so easily outmaneuvered, however, and she devises a daring method of intercepting them on the high seas. The rest of the narrative involves tracking down the culprit and following him to his fence in Panama.
Many fans will regard the casting of Lola Lane as the equivalent of replacing Sean Connery with George Lazenby in the James Bond film On Her Majesty's Secret Service. However, as with that film, if one avoids making comparisons it is easy to accept the performer in the role. Miss Lane could fast patter with the best of them and certainly pull off the tough dame act. As Torchy she is believably resourceful and energetic while generating solid chemistry with her Stevie Weevie. Miss Lane also has a great character-defining scene as she makes an impassioned plea to Maxie to allow her to pursue her story citing the "ink in my blood." There's no way on earth she will allow herself to be scooped by a rival and conceives a clever and daring way to catch up with her competition: parachuting out of a plane , landing in the ocean, and forcing the ship to pick her up.
Paul Kelly likewise does an acceptable job as Steve McBride. While not being as comically exasperated as Barton MacLane when dealing with the shenanigans of Torchy and Gahagan he adopts a more deadpan approach which works just as well. However, the character is still the same as he frequently dismisses Torchy's ideas and is several steps behind her in the investigative department.
Tom Kennedy is afforded his most screen time to date as Gahagan and is given ample opportunities to steal the show. While being as dimwitted as ever he does contribute some value to the proceedings and actually proves to be useful. Other members of the regular supporting cast are on hand to ensure the viewer this is still a Torchy Blane film. Frank Shannon, George Guhl, and Joe Cunningham are present as Captain McTavish, Desk Sergeant Graves, and Maxie Monkhouse, respectively.
Of course it wouldn't be a Torchy Blane film without some recognizable faces in bit roles, either. John Ridgely has a small scene as Sparks, the ships radio officer, while Carole Landis is glimpsed as Miss Leopard 1938. Meanwhile John Harron ascends to the credited cast list as the pilot who wings Torchy to her parachute drop point. James Conlon, previously seen as the comical coroner in two earlier entries, is on hand as a Botkin, one of the Leopards.
Briskly directed by William Clemens, Torchy Blane in Panama provides an entertaining narrative that unfortunately resolves itself with the intrepid heroine getting herself in jam and needing to be rescued by Steve and the boys. This is an unfortunate contrivance begun by the previous picture and perpetuated throughout the remainder of the series. The relationship between Torchy and Steve likewise gets stuck in neutral with proclamations of love and promises of marriage that are never fulfilled. However, while this film proved to be a one-and-done for Lola Lane as the heroine her casting cemented the creation of another famous female reporter. Jerry Siegel and Joe Shuster took the spirit of Torchy Blane plus the name of her onetime enactor and amalgamated them into Lois Lane of the Daily Planet.