Streamline Express (1935)

Waste of time

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

A film of deceptively outspoken contemporary relevance, this is cinema at its most alert, alarming and alive.

Blistering performances.

This jolly farce from '35 is the purest screwball, one of the funniest and most lighthearted, it has even the customary spanking (of Evelyn Venable, by Jory), and a cheerful dynamism; it's neither a Sci Fi Movie, nor a mystery one, although there's a funny futuristic toy and fancy sets (most of the storyline happens on a futuristic train) and a crime subplot (but as part of the farce: a concealed, hidden jewel, in a comedy of remarriage …). Jory has the leading role, and he's stunning and irresistible, Evelyn Venable is his lady, vastly endearing. The story follows three couples, and a delightful drunkard who sips anything. What matters, all the cast seems to enjoy doing this movie.There are some equivocal lines, of adult humor.Fred Arnold plays a character named Forbes, an unfaithful husband won back by his wife. (So, there aren't two Arnolds in the script, a Freddy and a Fred, why should they be, but one character has the name of another character's actor. Honestly.) Moreover, Ralph Forbes plays Freddy Arnold, so the character named after the actor who plays the runaway husband.E. Ralston looked a bit androgynous for the tempting younger woman. But this is in keeping with the farce.Leonard Fields, whom as of yet I know nothing about, directed the thing.Here, Jory rose to humorous heights that will only be available to O'Toole.

This film from tiny Mascot Pictures is very much like a super-low budget variation on "Grand Hotel". It's made up of several stories and many characters who are traveling cross-country on a brand-new super speedy train. The main tale stars Victor Jory and Evelyn Venable and it's a pleasant little story about a Broadway producer following his diva aboard, as she's giving up her career to get married--and he wants to somehow woo her back to the show. In addition, there are various crooks, a nervous man and a story about an affair that round all this out. While none of it is brilliant and it is a bit derivative, it is pleasant and generally well-acted as well as entertaining---provided you like old films. If you don't, then try something a bit better--as old movies are often wonderfully entertaining (such as "Grand Hotel" or "Dinner at Eight"--two of the best of this genre) . Worth seeing but far from a must-see.

Expecting to enjoy a very cool train film, I wound up being greatly disappointed with this movie. For starters, the train in the title turns out to be a most unconvincing model which, after its christening, is little seen the rest of the film, save for brief shots of it speeding along. According to the script, it travels on a special monorail across the country, the construction of which presumably rivaled the laying of the transcontinental railroad tracks back in the day. At any rate, the film is shot in interior sets that could have been in any hotel, and a drab one at that.On to the plot, of which there is little. In fact, I am convinced it is a leftover hash-up from some other project coupled with a super-train angle to give it some box office appeal. Previous reviewers have detailed the story, what there is of it, but there is not one interesting scene in the picture. The characters are cardboard, the dialog stilted and the pace tedious.I give this film my lowest rating. Another record-setting-train film, "The Silver Streak" (1934) is "Citizen Kane" by comparison. I advise anyone who loves trains or good films to avoid this disappointing mess.

Little seen but fast moving comedy with Evelyn Venable (the original Columbia ‘lady with the torch') and Victor Jory. The express of the title is a train, somewhat similar to the ‘Twentieth Century' a year earlier. The plot is somewhat forgettable but seems to hinge on Venable being tamed by her man after leading him a merry dance. Ralph Forbes is in there again but doesn't have much more to do than he did in 'Twentieth Century'. Venable and Jory are good value though and keep the interest of the viewer. The other back stories of the train passengers are amusing but they really are very stagey caricatures.Coming in at little over an hour, this movie certainly lives up to the implied speed of its title. Sadly it isn't likely to inspire many return journeys and seems to have fallen out of even the list of vaguely remembered 30s movies.