Wonderful character development!

Purely Joyful Movie!

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

The thing I enjoyed most about the film is the fact that it doesn't shy away from being a super-sized-cliche;

I was very fortunate to DVR a pristine copy of this many years ago on TCM and I have watched it probably 30 times since.My dad made several auto trips across the US in the twenties and earlier. Though this was 1934, it provides me with a visual perspective on some of what he may have encountered before there was a national system of highways, or many paved roads for that matter.My enjoyment of this film comes mostly from the glimpses into early motoring. As a kid in the early fifties I made many a trip from California to Iowa with my folks on route 66. Motoring was not all that sophisticated even in the early fifties and that plays into it as well.This review/comment is not so much about the finer points of the movie as it is a statement on how enjoyable it is for me because of the time in which it was made.The fact that there is a great little drama playing out and lots of ventures into quirky personalities and side plots, is just icing on the cake.

Heat Lightning (1934)** 1/2 (out of 4) Sisters Olga (Aline MacMahon) and Myra (Ann Dvorak) run a small gas station in the Arizona desert where they fight about the youngest sisters wants when it comes to a different life. Throughout the day a wide range of people stop by the shop including a couple thugs (Preston Foster, Lyle Talbot) who are wanted for killing a couple men and one of them has a past relationship with Olga. This crime picture from Warner certainly isn't among their best but the nice cast and short 64-minute running time makes it a nice little gem as long as you don't go in expecting too much. The first starts off with quite a bit of innuendo around the older sister Olga and her constantly putting men down. The way she dresses, talks and acts, it really does seem like this could have been shown during TCM's look at gay and lesbian images in early Hollywood. Her behavior is explained as the film goes along but that is certainly one thing that really jumped out. For the most part the characters really aren't all that interesting and the only reason one would pay close attention to them is because the studio cast some very familiar faces and especially to those who enjoy their "B" movies. Both MacMahon and Dvorak are good in their parts of the battling sisters and both Foster and Talbot could play heavies in their sleep. The four have some pretty good scenes together and especially MacMahon and Foster when it comes to talking about their past. The cast also includes Glenda Farrell playing a sexy idiot, Frank McHugh her driver and we even get Ruth Donnelly and Edgar Kennedy in small bits. The screenplay is full of the typical stereotype characters you'd expect in a film like this but the most disappointing thing is that not much happens throughout the running time. The movie is certainly leading up to final showdown but nothing ever really happens and there just aren't enough twists or turns to keep any sort of drama going. The movie does include a terrific looking set as I thought the diner was good enough to offer up some terrific shots and especially those where the camera just looks around the insides and there being windows everywhere. This allows one to get a 360-look around the place. Some pre-Code elements add to the fun but the main draw here are the actors.

After reading several reviews that enjoyed the film, I almost did not write a comment.However, after reading the one comparing it to a poor man's Petrified Forest, I wanted to say that's just plain unfair.I, was not around for the New York Times drab review in 1934, like the previous reviewer, but I can form my own opinion. I really liked the movie. Aline McMahon, pulled off the difficult character of playing a woman mechanic/business owner, and Preston Foster played the crook on the lam quite believable for the situation he was in.I personally wish Ann Dvorak had more of a developed part, I always like her, but sadly hers was the least developed of the several interesting characters in the film. Obviously made on a small budget, it's just unfair to compare this to Petrified Forest. They are not the same film at all.

A fine example of minimalist film-making, this Warners B-pic offers a proto-feminist scenario delivered with some swell precode attitude. Two sisters (one world-weary, the other innocent) run a service-station-cum-caravansary on an isolated desert highway. Every passerby kids them about how dull and lonely this existence must be, but in the space of one night they serve host to a pair of criminals on the run, a couple of gold-diggers on the way back from Reno with their swag (and with a wise-guy chauffeur), plus a large family of Mexicans on the way to a fiesta.The main thrust of the film is melodramatic, as even in their isolation the women cannot avoid mistreatment by treacherous men. However, it's also filled with neat little comic bits and clever wisecracks. Director Mervyn Le Roy creates plenty of atmosphere with few resources, and the cheap-jack desert-palms backdrop (with the Mexican father tenderly serenading his family in the background) sticks in the memory. Le Roy uses an almost slow-motion tracking shot to great effect to show the hallucinatory influence of an ex-lover on the older sister as he intrudes into this sweaty environment. And it's pretty clear that there's a lot of casual sleeping around going on -- a lot of the jokes and situations probably wouldn't have survived the censors if this were a more prominent picture (and definitely not a year later). But the picture never flaunts its raciness -- sex is just part of the fabric of life.Though consistently enjoyable, the movie never builds up enough intensity to be classed with the immortal second features like Detour (though the climax does pack a punch). Surprisingly, the two leads never really click. Aline MacMahon and Ann Dvorak were always marvelously idiosyncratic in supporting roles, but here the former's baroque style seems overdone for the milieu, and the latter doesn't have much opportunity to vent her repressed passion (maybe the censor trimmed that bit). Overall, though, the performances from the many familiar faces are excellent, my particular favorite occurring in the opening scene featuring Edgar Kennedy as the henpecked spouse of Jane Darwell.Definitely worth seeking out for aficionados (but hard to find). Some might compare it to The Petrified Forest, but it gives me a bit of an offbeat Shack Out on 101 vibe, too.