Sadly Over-hyped

Am I Missing Something?

As somebody who had not heard any of this before, it became a curious phenomenon to sit and watch a film and slowly have the realities begin to click into place.

Blistering performances.

"Bank Alarm" is an early crime movie, evolving around a series of robbed banks and the agent who is supposed to solve the case. While he gets closer and closer to the solution, events begin to become more personal, as his sister is kidnapped by the gang.What you see is what you get with this one, and that is a pretty basic and solid crime movie. There are no major surprising plot twists and most of the story is already predictable from the very beginning, but nonetheless the production is of some value and avoids bigger mistakes concerning images or plot. As in most of the films of the era, the audience of course has to bear a lot of pathos, including a lead character that is both without failure and bad boy enough to impress the ladies. This and the forced attempts to be funny by adding a character whose only purpose is to produce slapstick, are the only aspects that really drew the movie a bit down for me.All in all you shouldn't expect too much of this film but on the other hand it would be unfair to call it a bad movie. If you're looking for a bit of old school crime action, this could be maybe worth a try.

I am a life-long lover of 'B' movies, especially those from the 30's but this one is so inept I'm amazed it wasn't shelved into oblivion.Being a low-budget job is no excuse for the dreadful writing, non-existent direction, the camera shots that simply don't match, the poor editing, the always-smiling or laughing performances... and the pathetically acted 'funny-man' who provides the foil for the Thin Man-like leads in place of the latter's dog...Believe me, the dog did better.Bank Alarm... by the way, despite being mentioned in the opening scene, has absolutely nothing to do with alarms, and actually very little to do with banks...!There is only ONE scene in the film worth mentioning, set in a jail... which I won't spoil for you... and that's it...!There are hundreds of films of this genre and period, and 10 minutes from any one of them will provide more satisfaction than this entire film. Trying to defend this rubbish by saying it's 'low-budget' and a 'B-movie' is grossly insulting to all the good (even excellent) films in this category.Even if you just like slapstick, and are under 9-years-old you can do better than this.Such a disappointment._____________________________

This is a B-movie from Grand National—a relatively small-time studio by Hollywood standards. The film stars Conrad Nagel and Eleanor Hunt as a G-man and his girlfriend. Nagel has been frustrated with his attempts to get information about a clever gang that has been involved with some daring robberies and forgeries. The local police have been no help so Hunt and an idiot photographer offer to help (they see much like Lois Lane and Jimmy Olson—dumb and always in the way). One thing that no one knows is that Nagel's sister is dating a member of the gang! This is a reasonably well acted and entertaining B-movie. When I say B-movie, this is a term used to describe the second and lesser film from a double-feature. Unlike the A-picture, the B is very quickly and cheaply made---often by tiny independent studios like Grand National. While Bs often have a poor reputation, they are often fun to watch and sometimes are more entertaining than the A-film.Strengths of the film are good acting by Nagel and a plot that offers a few nice twists. The biggest negative is the limp comic relief—it didn't improve the film at all and the viewer was left wondering if anyone in real life is as big a cretin as the numb-skull photographer, Bulb. The answer is no.

Conrad Nagel is trying to get a line on a gang of gangsters. Can he figure out the connection between Carelli's night club and all the BANK ALARMs going off in Southwest, or will he be stymied by his really stupid photographer sidekick? This snooze of a B-movie has all the stuff you expect in a B. A really dumb sidekick. A police force worthy of Mack Sennett. A smooth talking super genius as lead detective, who suavely insults the buffoons leading the local police force. And a gangster named Corelli. The one thing it does not have is a compelling plot, since the scriptwriters decided to go for a rather bland police procedural plot, where the villains and the plot developments are easy to guess. The result is one of those under 60 minute movies that feels like a three hour epic. The only thing noteworthy is how genuinely awful the comic relief is, and how much of the running time is wasted on it. Nagel, at least, does not humiliate himself with a lousy performance, but that is the only good thing here.Nobody should waste their time on this movie.