JohnHowardReid A hic-cup in the Torchy Blane series, Torchy Blane in Panama (1938), droped the Farrell-MacLane combo in favor of Lola Lane and Paul Kelly. Despite an ingeniously fast-paced script and admirably deft direction by William Clemens, this entry was not popular with audiences who clamored for the restoration of the team, Farrell and MacLane.Never one to disappoint the picturegoing public, producer Bryan Foy rushed his original stars into Torchy Gets Her Man (1938). On this excursion, Torchy uncovers the brains behind a counterfeiting racket. Another tightly-written script, another great assembly of top-notch character players, plus - would you believe? - a really outstanding music score. Glenda Farrell so enjoyed getting Her Man with director Bill Beaudine who encouraged her to set a new record in speedy dialogue delivery, she specifically asked Bryan Foy to assign him to Torchy Blane in Chinatown (1939). Many critics actually regard this entry as the best in the series. Certainly the support line-up headed by Henry O'Neill, Patric Knowles and James Stephenson surpassed even the highest standards of the other entries. Just the presence of James Stephenson alone guaranteed a high audience impact. Stephenson, who was on the verge of major stardom after his riveting performance in The Letter (1940), died in 1941 just as he was about to reach the top. A stage-trained actor with a magnetic personality, rugged yet soulful features and an expressive voice of unique timbre and resonance, Stephenson never gave a less than compelling performance in his life.

utgard14 The seventh in the Torchy Blane series and the penultimate one for Glenda Farrell and Barton MacLane. This time our heroes try to foil an extortion plot. As with the last film, this one has a different vibe to it than the first four Farrell movies. The focus isn't mostly on Torchy, but rather the cops and the criminal plot. Great supporting cast that includes Henry O'Neill, Patric Knowles, Frank Shannon, James Stephenson, and Janet Shaw. The regulars - Farrell, MacLane, and Tom Kennedy - are all good.This one has a more of a Charlie Chan feel to it, and not because of the Chinese elements. The villains' plot isn't obvious and keeps the viewers (and the dimwitted coppers) guessing. The climax is hilariously offensive, so a point for that, but also has annoying music that doesn't quite fit the on screen action and goes on too long, so deduct a point for that. Worth a look for fans of the series or just B movies in general. But this isn't Torchy Blane at her best.

el Cambion TORCHY BLANE IN CHINATOWN 1938Barton Maclane, Glenda Farell. From the Torchy Blane series. Classic fast-talking good-guy police detective MacBride and his girl, Torchy (reporter). I have a love/hate relationship with this whole series (nine of them). This one was one of the better ones. A blackmail case.But throughout the series Torchy, a pretty reporter, is constantly trying to snoop into ongoing police investigations, jeopardizing her own and other peoples' lives, not to mention stealing or tampering with evidence. She is always on the verge of getting arrested or rubbed out by the murderers or gang members. So she's irritating.I'd rate the similar "Maisie" series (with Ann Sothern) higher.

sol **SPOILERS** As you would expect fast talking and quick thinking news reporter Torchy Blane, Glanda Ferrell, gets the jump on a gang of Chinese jade thieves with just old fashion police work. Something that her boyfriend police Let.Steve McBride seemed to be totally lacking of.With the people involved in smuggling a bunch of valuable Chinese burial jades into the country on a secret hit-list, by persons who's families the jades belonged to, Let. McBride is put on the case to protect their lives and catch their potential murderers. McBride's attempt to keep the killers from doing their dirty work ends in disaster with two of those targeted Allan Fitzhugh, Anderson Lawler, and Dr. Mansfield, James Stephenson, ending up mysteriously murdered. In the case of the unfortunate Allan Fitzhugh he also-besides being gunned down- ends up losing his head over-the jade burial tablets-them.**Caution Spoiler** Going to the city morgue to check out the circumstances of Fitzhugh death Torchy finds out, through his fingerprints, that he-or his headless corpse- isn't the person whom the police believe him to be. This murder mystery also gets a bit strange after Dr. Mansfield is later killed by smoking a spiked, by his killers, cigarette which poisons him. Before the meat-wagon, or morgue ambulance, arrives Dr. Mansfield's body mysteriously disappears from sight!These double murder now leads to the real person whom the murderers, now turned extortionists, are really targeting Senator H. Baldwin, Henry O'Neill. It's Sen. Baldwin, who owns the worlds biggest Chinese jade collection, whom both the late Allan Fitzhugh and Dr. Mansfield as well as the still alive Capt. Condon, Patrick Knowles were working for in smuggling burial jades out of China.The murdering blackmailers try to shake down Sen. Baldwin for a cool $250,000.00 by threatening to crash his daughter's Janet, Janet Shaw, wedding announcement reception, or even go so far as murdering her, at his Long Island estate. Janet's fiancée Dick Staunton, Richard Bond, agrees to pay the extortionists off by meeting them a his speedboat in the far end of New York Bay where they feel safe from the police an where the switch is to be made. It's then that Torchy goes into action in checkmating the extortionists plan. With the help of the US Navy and her boyfriend's, Steve McBride, bumbling assistant officer, and now promoted to Sergent, NYPD poet laureate Gahagan, Tom Kennedy, Torchy ends up getting the goods on the extortionists before they can get the goods, the $250,000.00 in extortion money, for themselves!