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Better Late Then Never

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Stars Fank Darro as "Frank"... takes a job as a truck driver, unaware of the shenanigans behind the scenes. Apparently the competitor has hired thugs to drive the company out of business, but Frank and sidekick "Jeff" need the money. A lot of repetition.. we keep seeing the same two trucks on the same stretch of road.... but in different incidents and different smashups. Then Mr. Lee shows up, and no-one knows what he's really doing there. Because of his shorter size, Darro had played the robot in "Forbidden Planet", although someone else did the robot's voice. Darro died quite young of a heart attack. This one is a Monogram Pictures shortie, at only 62 minutes. Which in this case is a blessing, since it's really not so good. Directed by Jean Yarbrough, who was known as king of the hacks, according to his bio here. Yarbrough and writer Edmond Kelso made twelve films together! It's just ok. No big names in this one.

Don't expect banana-clad Carmen Miranda, polka dot wearing Alice Faye or leg-lifting Charlotte Greenwood. This is not at all related to that blockbuster musical from just a few years hence. This is a racket film where different moods move in and out and make the film fly by extremely fast.When you start watching the first 10 minutes of this Monogram crime drama, you may be confused with the listing of Frankie Darro and Mantan Moreland as the frequently paired co-stars, as their teamings were mostly on the light side. It does move into that direction when they take over the action, determined to unmask the villains behind a sabotaging ring out to discredit a trucking company. The actions of the villains are sinister and deadly but toss in the un-aging Darro and the bug-eyed Moreland, and comedy is sure to erupt.Marcia Mae Jones, a forgotten teen-aged actress in such films as "These Three" and "The Adventures of Tom Sawyer", is the romantic interest here, and in a scene with her beau (Jackie Moran), she goes through all the women who stood by important men in history, hesitating ironically only once when she mentions Alexander the Great, adding hesitatingly, "Mrs. Alexander the Great". It turns out that the beloved head of the trucking company (Robert Homans) knows more than he's let on, and the motivations behind the hijackings are rather surprising. But don't underestimate Darro and the seemingly scaredy-cat Moreland who is certainly braver than he realizes he is, especially when he takes on another stereotypical black character, a henchman of the villains played by Laurence Criner (given the silly name of "Ham Shanks").At just an hour's running time, there's a lot to enjoy here, reminding me that sometimes the best gifts come in small packages and you could get them from a Woolworth's rather than a Bloomingdale's.

Frankie O'Malley (Frankie Darro) and Jefferson Smith (Mantan Moreland) are broke and looking for work. In the help-wanted section of the newspaper (a quaint object that people used to read...when people could read)they see employment offered at the Overland Transport Company, a hauling firm owned by "Pop" Wallace (Robert Homans.) Unaware that a trucking war is going on and that Wallace's trucks are being wrecked and his men killed, Frankie and Jefferson apply for work and are hired by "Chick" Daly (Jackie Moran), mechanic at the garage, and by Patsy Wallace (Marcia Mae Jones), the daughter of "Pop" Wallace. On their first haul---Frankie is the driver and Jefferson is the swamper sent along to do the heavy lifting---they have a run-in with the hi-jackers, but escape after a race between the two five-ton trucks. But they aren't as lucky on their second trip as their truck is run off the road and the hi-jackers take them prisoner. Frankie recognizes the assailants as drivers for a rival trucking firm.Meanwhile, George Lee (Keye Luke), Chinese undercover agent for the insurance company that is covering Wallace's claims, has learned that Wallace is working with Ray Saunders (Irving Mitchell), division superintendent for the insurance company. Saunders has a hold over Wallace and his forcing him to participate against his will.Frankie and Jefferson, after a knock-down battle, escape for the hi-jacker's garage in a stolen truck---it was already a stolen truck before they stole it to make a get-away---and return to Wallace's garage to find him slugged and unconscious. Frankie and Jefferson decide to get the evidence that will clear Wallace before the police move in. Frankie, Jefferson, "Chick" and Patsy break into the hi-jacker's stronghold, but are captured by Saunders' men. Saunders has the foursome loaded into a truck and driven out into the country-side and killed.Things look bleak indeed but the driver, as was the wont for muggs driving vehicles out into the country-side loaded with potential victims, breaks the speed limit and is soon being chased by motorcycle cops.

This is the story of two friends who end up driving for a trucking company that has become plagued by hijackings. As things go on one falls for the daughter of the company owner, things get complicated as the hijackings turn deadly and the friends realize that there is much more going on than meets the eye.Montan Moreland was paired several times with Frankie Darro. What was great about this was that Moreland was always portrayed as Darro's equal even if he was just being comedy relief. This put a nice spin on things and proved that you could get away with a fair representation of how people got along. Better for the audience was the fact that the interplay became sharper and more real. We end up with two friends talking to each other and not two actors.The movie itself is not one of the best that Moreland and Darro did together. The plot is a bit herky jerky and there was one or two times that I thought things were being kept in motion just to meet a required running time. Allowing for that this is a good little thriller and certainly worth a bag of popcorn and an hour of your time. You may not remember it three days later but you certainly will enjoy it while its on.