Twisted Rails (1934) Poster

(1934)

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4/10
Cheap Train Actioneer
boblipton19 May 2023
Jack Donovan shows up at the superintendent of the railyard yard's office and asks for a job. The line has been plagued by a band of thieves who have been sabotaging engines, then grabbing the freight from the halted trains. A railroad detective has been shot just before he can say who they are. So Donovan gets the job.

It's a William Pizor production directed by Albert Herman, which means it may have a half-decent script, but it's slovenly directed. Ingenue Terry Walker, daughter of one of the engineers, keeps getting kidnapped for no clear reason. Donovan keeps getting in fights with three or more villains, and only goes down when one of them waves a stick about a foot above his head. The scenes atop hurtling trains are shot in such a way that it's clear the cars are standing still, while the whistles and track sounds are added in the editing.

Pizor was one of those Poverty Row producers who started in the silent era and continued to produce cheap westerns, movies about heroic dogs, and so forth for a few years. His last credit was in 1938. He died in 1959, aged 69.
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7/10
Funny little train thriller
suchenwi24 July 2010
Warning: Spoilers
In the early 1930s it seems to have been a quite popular B film genre: take a railroad with big steam engines; take some sabotage being done, leading to train wrecks; take some higher-ranking official with a charming daughter; take a young man from out of town who wants to solve the crime...

Examples include Danger Lights, Hurricane Express (a serial, starring young John Wayne), Phantom Express - and this one, of course.

Once one knows the patterns, watching such movies is interesting for the details. In "Twisted Rails" we get more than the usual amount of running and fighting on the train's rooftop; a truck/car chase on curvy mountain roads (which appear repetitive); and a pesky alarm bell device hidden in a box that supposedly contains gold bullion for US$50,000.. not to mention the many shootings and fistfights where it is obvious that no actors were harmed in making this film.

There could have been more scenes of steam engines in motion. But then again, the extended round-house scene presented much eye-candy for a train lover like me. All in all, an enjoyable old piece. Available at archive.org for legit download (it's in public domain).
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