Watch Torchy Blane.. Playing with Dynamite For Free

Waste of time

To me, this movie is perfection.

Overrated

The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

All told, Torchy Runs for Mayor would have made a brilliant close to the series. But it was not to be, for Warner Bros already had another in the works, Torchy Plays with Dynamite (1939). This one was also titled Torchy Bame...Playing wth Dynamite. This time, Jane Wyman, who essayed a minor role as a hat-check girl in in the Torchy's "Smart Blonde" entry, played the lead - opposite Allen Jenkins as Steve McBride! The mind boggles. Jenkins often played cops. Inept, stumblebum, custard-pie cops. True, on a few occasions he did venture into a rare straight role - notably in The Case of the Howling Dog (1934) in which his Sergeant Holcomb emerges as a particularly vicious and vindictive adversary for Perry Mason - but Torchy...Dynamite marks his only excursion as the hero lead. Actually, despite his plug-ugly face, Jenkins comes over surprisingly well. But audiences refused to accept his transformation. Not even a crisp script and Noel Smith's pacy direction could rescue this movie from what was perceived by both critics and moviegoers as ridiculous miscasting. Torchy Blane had penned her last headline.

Torchy Blane... Playing with Dynamite (1939)** (out of 4) The ninth and final film in the series finds Glenda Farrell and Barton MacLane being replaced by Jane Wyman and Allen Jenkins. This time out Torchy has herself thrown into jail so that she can get close to a gangster's girlfriend (Sheila Bromley). The plan is for the two to get close and Torchy hopes that the girlfriend will then lead her to the gangster where Lt. McBride and Gahagan (Tom Kennedy) will arrest him. TORCHY BLANE... PLAYING WITH DYNAMITE really isn't all that bad when you consider it's the ninth film in a series but there's still no question that the only ones who need watch it are those who watched the previous eight and just want to say they've seen everything in the series. I think there are some good moments scattered around but even at just 59-minutes there's just not enough going on to keep you fully entertained. I thought both Wyman and Jenkins were good in their roles and I thought their chemistry and back and forth nature made for some entertainment. Bromley was also attractive in her part as is Eddie Marr as the gangster. Kennedy doesn't get as many poems to read but that's okay because it's still nice seeing him appear for his ninth time. The story itself has quite a few plot holes and there are many logical issues but these here shouldn't be taken too serious. After all, this is a "B" picture that was probably made in a week or two.

In court for a traffic ticket, reporter Torchy Blane encounters a shoplifter sentenced to nine months in jail—and later spots said shoplifter in a photo with much sought bank robber Denver Eddie. Torchy loses no time in having herself thrown into jail, befriending the moll, and planning an escape that—she hopes—will lead her to Denver Eddie himself and a great big scoop.Jane Wyman is a brisk and chipper Torchy Blane, bubbling with self-confidence and bright ideas in this fun final picture in the Torchy Blane series. Wyman also talks fast—though not as fast as Glenda Farrell, who played Torchy in most of the series' previous entries. Wyman's Torchy is perhaps a bit sweeter than Glenda's and not quite as hard-nosed.Wyman is aided greatly by Allen Jenkins as Lieutenant Steve McBride—annoyed, as always, by his fiancée's superior detecting skills as well as her willingness to poke criticism at his department's failures. Jenkins brings a touch of good humor to the role, at least in comparison with Barton McLane, who was the series' regular Lt. McBride…. It's a sour but not really bitter Stevie who complains that Torchy's latest column makes "a hero out of this Denver Eddie punk after we do everything but go through the public schools looking for him." Tom Kennedy is as much fun as ever as Gahagan, police chauffeur and assistant. This time around we learn that Gahagan was once wrestling champ of the Navy—and has the belt buckle to prove it. He is, of course, pressed into service in the wrestling ring, billed (reluctantly) as "Harry the Horse" and allowed to show off his moves.Other highlights include Torchy's crime spree—setting off fire alarms all over town in order to get herself locked up. There's also a wonderful "gritty prison picture" sequence that lasts all of about two minutes, in which Torchy and the shoplifter cross paths, form a bond, and plan their breakout; it's brief, but it sure has all the earmarks of a Warner Brothers crime drama for that one (fun but rather incongruous) scene.The stars work well together; a decent plot, some fair dialog and a little action all add up to a very enjoyable little comedy-mystery.

Jane Wyman and Allen Jenkins team up as the reporter/detective pair in their first but also the series final episode. Wyman looks great but simply does not have the wisecracking hard-boiled presence of the annoying Glenda Farrell. Jenkins is fair but Barton MacLane is better.As in the rest of the series and many other films of this type, the amateur is a necessary component of bringing the criminal to justice. Torchy goes undercover in jail and on the lam in order to meet up with the notorious Denver Eddie. By the end of the movie she is in the arms of fiancé Detective Lieutenant Steve McBride. Tom Kennedy steals most of the movie by playing a former Navy wrester turned policeman. In reality Tom was a boxer and he carries off his match as Harry the Horse with Bone Crusher (played by Tiny Roebuck in his final on-screen performance) with good comedic style. If you have ever wondered what the protagonists in a wrestling match say to each other while they are otherwise locked into their imposing holds, watch this movie.