Please don't spend money on this.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

At a board of directors meeting, handsome railroad engineer Charles Starrett (as Tom Caldwell) presents his plan for a modern, high-speed train called "The Silver Streak". The conservative board of directors considers Mr. Starrett's progressive plan preposterous. They reject his design. Starrett resigns and goes to work for another locomotive company, which is secretly arranged by his beautiful girlfriend Sally Blane (as Ruth Dexter). She is also the daughter of William Farnum (as Barney "BJ" Dexter), chairman at the railroad firm Starrett left. The diesel-powered train is built, but runs into some trouble. "You can't beat steam," is what the old guard says, but the industry is faltering and needs to attract a new generation of travelers...While dull, this production has a few good reasons to watch...William Farnum was one of the first movie "super-stars" and gets a featured, late career role. He even gets to kiss Ms. Blane (Loretta Young's lovely sister). Adventurous engineer Hardie Albright (as Allan Dexter) does well with the most dramatic supporting role. Arthur Lake and Guinn "Big Boy" Williams (as Crawford and Higgins) are an effective comic relief team (one wishes the material were better). There are many recognizable players in small roles - from veteran character actress Mary Carr as the weepy train passenger to attractive newcomer Dave O'Brien as a telephone clerk. The actual train is shown to great effect - but the climax is rendered unexciting by showy reaction shots, a superfluous Russian spy and a general poor pace.***** The Silver Streak (12/10/34) Tommy Atkins ~ Charles Starrett, Sally Blane, William Farnum, Hardie Albright

I am going to give you more of the reality and let you watch the movie and enjoy or dislike it on your own.First lets start with what the train really is. Its real name was the Pioneer Zephyr. It was built by the Budd Company in Philadelphia for the Chicago, Burlington, and Quincy Railroad (CB&Q) which is usually called just the Burlington Railroad.It was built during the Great Depression in the year 1934 which was also when this movie was made. If you ever want the genesis for the second movie Silver Streak made in 1976 with Gene Wilder, Richard Pryor, and Jill Clayburgh watch this movie first. I don't know which of the two movies is the most outrageous.Despite the obvious replay at double the speed of the recording, the train was fast for its time. It did a dawn to dusk Denver to Chicago run in 13 hours and 5 minutes for an average speed of 77 miles per hour. It was a speed record.The only thing that I didn't like about the movie was a fear of almost all the people on the train except for the chief engineer. It would have been much better with oh wow expressions instead. There are portions of many trips for most of us that getting there faster would be appreciated.

I got into "The Silver Streak" only because my ex-boyfriend was a die-hard train fan and had too many train oriented movies to count. I rather enjoyed this little mix of action, comedy, drama and romance, all involving a train that very few people wanted.Tom Caldwell (Charles Starrett)pitches a modern train to Barney J. Dexter (William Farnum), whose mind is so stuck in the past that he doesn't want any part of it. With a little help from Ruth Dexter (Sally Blane), Tom gets another chance another company, but the train trial ends miserably (It isn't fast enough to race an old-time steam engine). Consigned to a fair, Tom finds out with the help of know-it-all Crawford (Arthur Lake)what the problem is and fixes it. And the timing couldn't be better, because Ruth's brother becomes ill on Hoover Dam, along with other workers. The only way to save them is to race to Hoover Dam all the way from Chicago with an iron lung. To make it even more exciting, Tom's engineering buddy Bronte (Irving Pichel)is apparently a spy whose wanted for murder.The film is gratefully short (70 minutes), and campy by today's standards, but my favorite part is the freak-out by one of the passengers. As she is riding The Silver Streak, which is going too fast for her liking, she starts screaming about it. You can't help but laugh at that!

It's a variation on the "Get The Serum To Nome" drama, only this time it has to get . . . well, not to Nome. Good shots of the "Zephyr", now on display in Chicago and the high-speed, high-tech wonder of its day. To get the high-speed effect on film the simply halved the speed of the camera. This results in a fast train but ridiculously fast action on the part of railway workers. The acting and the script aren't bad for a thirties serial.