Torrid Zone (1940)

 

Torrid Zone - 1940

Coming up next we have 1940's "Torrid Zone", a film about a man who restores order to a banana plantation hounded by a Central American revolutionary.

The film's cast includes James Cagney, Ann Sheridan, Pat O'Brien, Andy Devine, Helen Vinson, George Tobias, George Reeves, Frank Puglia, and Grady Sutton.

In Central America, feared revolutionary outlaw Rosario La Mata is on the run.

Also in Central America is American songstress Lee Donley.  The man who runs the town she's in, American banana plantation owner Steve Case, doesn't like her, and wants her out of town.  He directs the chief of police to get her away.

Lee doesn't want to get out of town, and she resents Case forcing her to go.  "Mister, the stork that brought you must've been a vulture," she tells him.

Case gets an old friend of his, Nick Butler, to work for him.  Nick will be taking over the management of Case's banana plantation, where things have gotten lax and the crop that comes to town isn't good.

Lee meets Nick, and things are electric between them.  Seeing her opportunity to avoid returning to America, Lee hides out on Nick's train and accompanies him to the plantation.

When Lee arrives at the banana plantation, she meets Nick's old girlfriend Gloria, the wife of the outgoing plantation manager.  The two fight like cats and dogs.  "Why do you walk around making noises like a lady?  All a guy has to do is wink at you and he hits the jackpot," Lee tells Gloria, who is greatly offended.

Rosario La Mata has rounded up a gang of vigilantes who are wreaking havoc on the banana plantation, threatening to ruin Case's crop and destroy the lives of the men who work there.

Meanwhile, Gloria still has feelings for Nick, and she wants him to take her to America with him after the job is over.  Nick keeps putting her off, not wanting to commit himself.

While Nick is busy sorting out his love life and getting the banana plantation into shape, Rosario is hard at work thwarting all of his plans.  He blows up his access to town and even has two spies working on Nick's plantation staff, who are meant to lure Nick to a place where Rosario can kill him.

Lee and Gloria are still at it, verbally sparring with each other any time they are within each other's sights.  "Oh, I get it.  You've finally stepped down to your own level," Gloria tells Lee, who retorts, "That's still three floors above you."

Rosario succeeds in getting into a gunfight with Nick, but Nick surprises him by showing up in an unexpected location.  Nick is wounded, but Rosario is eventually caught and handed over to the proper authorities.

And Nick decides to stay in Central America and make a life with Lee.  The two kiss and embrace.

Cast rundown:

   James Cagney...............................Nick Butler

   Ann Sheridan................................Lee Donley

   Pat O'Brien...................................Steve Case

   Andy Devine.................................Wally Davis

   Helen Vinson.................................Gloria Anderson

   George Tobias...............................Rosario La Mata

   George Reeves..............................Sancho

   Frank Puglia..................................Juan Rodriguez

   Grady Sutton.................................Sam

And that's it for Torrid Zone.  Though he is top-billed in the film, James Cagney doesn't appear until twenty-two minutes into the movie.  In the film, Ann Sheridan is referred to as someone who has a lot of "oomph".  In real life, Sheridan was nicknamed "the oomph girl" in the late 1930s, a moniker for which she did not care.  This film was nominated for inclusion on the list of the Top 100 Funniest American Movies.

As always, if you wish to leave a comment, please remember our posting rules.

The West Point Story (1950)

The West Point Story - 1950

Next on our list is 1950's "The West Point Story", starring James Cagney.  A Broadway director/producer goes to West Point to try and convince a young man to leave the army and join the theater.  What the overbearing director gets is a lesson in responsibility, duty, and love.

The film's supporting cast includes Virginia Mayo, Doris Day, Gordon MacRae, Gene Nelson, and Alan Hale Jr.

We begin our story with veteran Broadway director Elwin "Bix" Bixby, a take charge, in-your-face kinda guy.  He's prone to violent rages and physical altercations, which causes him to alienate every producer in town.

He's also a gambler.  His assistant/girlfriend Eve is fed up with it.  She wants him to get himself together or she's leaving.  She's got an offer to stage dances in Las Vegas.  Bix tells her he'll reform, and he begs her to stay.  He also tells her that he's got a meeting the next day with a big Broadway producer.

He goes to hear out the producer.  The producer wants him to go up to West Point where his nephew Tom is a cadet.  Tom's got a great singing voice, and the producer doesn't want him to waste it on the army.  He tells Bix his job is to get his nephew to quit the army and join show business.  He offers him a lot of money if he's successful.

As added pressure, the producer tells him about a friend of his in Las Vegas who's offered Eve a job.  Bix punches the guy and it sends him over his desk.  He heads off to West Point.

With Eve in tow, Bix arrives at West Point.  Eve is in awe of their surroundings.  Bix, an army veteran, treats it with indifference.  After some confusing directions, Bix and Eve make it to the theater where a rehearsal for a big show is going on.

They hear the producer's nephew Tom singing and are very impressed with his style.  He asks them to help out with the show.

Bix is a little confused when he finds out that there are no women in the show and that the role of the princess is to be played by a big, burly guy named Bull Gilbert.

He also takes a look at the "chorus girls".  "All of our girls are men," says Tom, "but everyone's a lady."

The guys give Bix and Eve a little preview of the show by singing one of their songs "The Kissing Rock".  It's a little rough around the edges to say the least.

Bix and Eve immediately get to work by giving them a few pointers, adding some extra dance moves for flair.

The guys are suitably impressed and eager to get to work.  Unfortunately, they have to abide by West Point rules and regulations, which means very strict schedules and very little rehearsal time.

The next day, Bix asks about who gets the show once it closes at West Point.  The answer: nobody.  It goes right into the West Point archives.  Bix is a little disappointed, as he thinks it's pretty good.  Eve thinks so, too.

At rehearsal, Bix slips back into his overbearing, violent tempered persona.

He literally gets hopping mad.  Some of the guys are late, but it's because of West Point duties and responsibilities.  He's also mad at the way their dance routines look and says they need more practice.

He punches Bull Gilbert in the mouth as he is completing a dance routine.  That sends West Point administration over the edge.

They want him off the premises.  Tom goes to bat for him.  The commandant reads about Bix's unusual military record.  He had a habit of blazing his own trail, but was a highly decorated hero by the French government for his service during the war.  Tom hits on an idea.

When Eve breaks it to him that he has to join West Point as a cadet or be expelled, he's furious.  But he has his eye on getting Tom into show business, so he goes along with the plan.

He has to bunk in their dorms, study for the same tests, and abide by the same rules as the lowliest members of West Point.

Privately, Bix tries to get Tom to join show business.  Tom has no desire, wanting his career in the army more than a career on the stage.

Bix tries to angle it another way.  He goes to see Tom and tells him he knows there's a big dance coming up at West Point.  Bix knows a certain famous actress, Jan Wilson, who owes her career to him.  Bix thinks he can get her to come to West Point and be Tom's date.  Tom is thrilled at the prospect.

Bix goes to New York and sees Jan.  She's in the middle of a rehearsal for a radio show, but she stops long enough to see him.

She can't get over the way he looks.  He tells her he's at West Point and needs her help.  She has the opportunity to be the first woman in a West Point show.  Jan wants to help Bix out, but she's extremely busy with her film/radio/personal appearance commitments.  Eventually, he wears her down, and she says yes.

She goes up to West Point for the dance, and Tom is very happy she's his dance partner.

Eve notices Bix hopping between Tom and Jan.  She definitely suspects that something is up.

Bix tells Jan the real reason he got her up to West Point: to help him convince Tom to quit the army and join show business.  She isn't thrilled with the idea, but to please Bix, she says she'll help.

During the dance, Jan gets up to sing "The Military Polka".

 It's a very fun, peppy song.  Jan and Bix dance a bit, and Tom sings as well.  Eve and her partner, Hal, also have a dance bit.

When they go outside, Tom sings Jan a bit of the show's ballad "You Love Me".  She's captivated by his voice.

They go off on Flirtation Walk, and a romance soon begins between the two of them.

Meanwhile, Eve has found out what Blix is up to and his real reason for coming to West Point.  She doesn't want any part of it.

Scared of losing Eve, Bix tries to win her back.  Coming back to West Point after curfew, he's told he must walk punishment tours.  Rather than just give up, he decides to follow through with his West Point committment.

Tom shows Eve that Bix is trying to change, and she decides to stay as she watches Blix walk the punishment tour.

As the show keeps rehearsing, Jan and Tom spend more and more time together.  He gives her a bird's eye glimpse of West Point.  And he proposes.

She accepts and hurries back to tell Bix and Eve the good news.  Eve is thrilled, but Bix is angry.  He wants Jan to focus on her career, and leave Tom to focus on his own theater career.

He gets her movie studio on the phone and they force her back to Hollywood.  She leaves the room in tears, telling Bix she'll never forget this.

Tom leaves West Point and follows Jan to New York.  She tells him their two careers wouldn't work out.  She doesn't want him to leave the army he loves, and she's got a lot of commitments with the studio.  She breaks the engagement.

When Tom gets back to West Point, he and Hal (who went to look for him) are arrested and confined to their room.

Furthermore, the commandant has decided that the show they were to put on has been cancelled.

Eve and Bull Gilbert come up with a plan that involves getting a high ranking official to come to West Point and ask for amnesty.

Bix finds out that there is a high ranking French government official in Washington D.C.  He gets there and tries to see him, but the official is just too busy.

He flashes his French military decoration in hopes that the Frenchman will want to help him out.  His hunch is right, and the French official does all he can to help them.

He asks for amnesty from the commandant, and gets it, saving Tom and Hal from expulsion from West Point and dishonor.

The show also goes on, only this time without Jan.  Bull Gilbert is not at all happy about playing the princess in front of his girlfriend.

Tom begins to sing "You Love Me".  He expects Bull to come through the door, but he gets a surprise instead.

Jan surprises everyone and appears as the princess, becoming the first woman to participate in a West Point show.  Tom is over the moon.

Nobody, however, is as thrilled as Bull Gilbert, who doesn't have to play the princess after all.

It's universally agreed that Jan makes a more attractive princess than Bull ever could.  Later, Jan tells Bix and Eve that she and Tom are going to be married, and she's giving up her career.

Hal gets injured during a mishap backstage, and Bix has to go on for him.  He does a "Brooklyn" number.

Before the final number, Tom asks Bix and Eve to come out on stage.  He thanks them for their help with the show, and presents them with the script and the music as a thank you from West Point.  He tells them to take it to Broadway and make it a hit.

Afterwards, the main cast steps forward and sings reprises of the songs from throughout the film.

Cast rundown:

   James Cagney................................Elwin "Bix" Bixby

   Virginia Mayo.................................Eve Dillon

   Doris Day......................................Jan Wilson

   Gordon MacRae..............................Tom Fletcher

   Gene Nelson...................................Hal Courtland

   Alan Hale Jr....................................Bull Gilbert

And that's all for The West Point Story.  It received an Academy Award nomination for Best Music, and it definitely deserved it.  The songs are very hum-able.  

As always, if you wish to leave a comment, please remember our posting rules.