“Heat Lightning” is a Pre-Code drama about a woman who runs a hotel and gas station in the desert, helped out by her younger sister. They clash on boyfriends and men who come through the area, with the thrills, chills, and spills proceeding from there. Director Mervyn LeRoy (“Little Caesar” 1931) made this into quite a Pre-Code melodrama, with its share of risque scenes and suggestive language, which would not have been possible had “Heat Lightning” been released after July 1, 1934 (when the Production Code Administration went into effect). It was release on March 3, 1934.
The stars of the show include Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, Preston Foster, Lyle Talbot, Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh, Ruth Donnelly, Willard Robertson, Muriel Evans as the blonde cutie, and Edgar Kennedy and Jane Darwell as Herbert & Gladys, The Husband and The Wife. The screenplay by Brown Holmes and Warren Duff was adapted from the 1933 play of the same name by George Abbott. Warner Bros. remake the picture in 1941 called “Highway West” starring Brenda Marshall and Arthur Kennedy.
Heat Lightning (1934)
cinema
My Review
“Heat Lightning” is a Pre-Code drama about a woman who runs a hotel and gas station in the desert, helped out by her younger sister. They clash on boyfriends and men who come through the area, with the thrills, chills, and spills proceeding from there. Director Mervyn LeRoy (“Little Caesar” 1931) made this into quite a Pre-Code melodrama, with its share of risque scenes and suggestive language, which would not have been possible had “Heat Lightning” been released after July 1, 1934 (when the Production Code Administration went into effect). It was release on March 3, 1934.
The stars of the show include Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, Preston Foster, Lyle Talbot, Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh, Ruth Donnelly, Willard Robertson, Muriel Evans as the blonde cutie, and Edgar Kennedy and Jane Darwell as Herbert & Gladys, The Husband and The Wife. The screenplay by Brown Holmes and Warren Duff was adapted from the 1933 play of the same name by George Abbott. Warner Bros. remake the picture in 1941 called “Highway West” starring Brenda Marshall and Arthur Kennedy.