• Wide Release
• Director: Howard Higgin
• Written by: Elliott J. Clawson, James Gleason, Kenyon Nicholson
• Running Time: 63 minutes
• Language: English
• MPAA Rating: G - General Audiences
• Cast: William Boyd, Carole Lombard, Owen Moore, Phillips Smalley, Billy Bevan, Diane Ellis

1929’s “High Voltage” marked Carole Lombard’s eighteenth film venture and her very first time acting in a brand new cinematic format known as the “talkie”, the very first of which came into being only two years earlier with Alan Crosland’s “The Jazz Singer”. To suggest that the whole notion of working with tiny microphones and synchronised sound was a new concept to the performers (as well as the crew) wouldn’t be a stretch. The model was so novel in fact that many of the actors involved were still in the process of altering their acting styles to fit this new format. And with “High Voltage”, such modifications are all up there on the screen: the exaggerated expressions and other goofy histrionics – all there to remind the viewers just how classic this classic film really is. Now, taking that all into account, let me suggest that if you… yes, you, the well-versed-in-everything-cinema film geek enthusiast who reads this waste of space known as Cranked On Cinema - can get your head around that aspect of the picture, then you’ll be treated to a pretty pleasant little movie.

Attempting to cross Nevada's alkali flats in the dead of winter, a handful of passengers on a bus find themselves stranded in the middle of nowhere and scampering across an open snow-swept field for the promise of warmth and refuge of an old rickety church. The fast encroaching darkened sky promises the mother of a blizzard headed their way, and with no outside communication obtainable, they are seemingly in for the long haul. Despite the appearance of being unoccupied, the group suddenly discovers (much to their great amusement) that the church is quite toasty… and occupied. Apparently someone else, in much the same situation that they’ve suddenly found themselves in, has been shacked up inside the basilica attempting to keep warm. The group aboard the bus is a varying array of quirky, eccentric personalities including Billie (Carole Lombard), a hot to trot fugitive who was in the process of being returned to prison by her brusque escort Detective Dan Egan (Owen Moore). There’s also a teenaged girl nick-named "The Kid" (Diane Ellis); a wealthy banker, J. Milton Hendrickson (Phillips Smalley); and, finally, there’s the bus driver (Billy Bevan) the film’s comic relief, who constantly reminds the riders that he always gets his passengers to their destination safely. Well, maybe not this time, it seems.

The guy hiding out in the church calls himself Bill (William Boyd) and he’s an imposing, brutish fellow who, as the group soon learns, rigidly stockpiles his food, systematically eating what he needs while rationing the rest. With all the extra tummies now looking for food, Bill, after a gruff intro, reluctantly assigns himself the task of doling out the quantities. Right away, the ultra-inquisitive Dan suspects that Bill isn’t so much stranded as he is hiding out from the law, and considering the way Bill watches over his food in much the same way a prisoner might safeguard his grub in a jailhouse environment, the good detective might be right. When Bill swats Hendrickson for grabbing a snack, things seem to be headed towards some kind of murky human drama similar to “Petrified Forest”. Nope, Howard Higgin steers clear of real drama in favour of something far messier – a three-way love triangle. No! Yes! A three-way romance soon festers with Bill and Dan competing for the affections of the sexy bad-girl Lombard, who seems altogether oblivious to Dan’s feelings. Of course, Billie finds compatibility in Bill who is, in actuality, an off-the-grid con wanted for something (never determined?) back in Minnesota. The big problem with the love triangle is that Dan’s angle is never fully explored, maybe because silent screen legend Owen Moore has some serious and very obvious vocal confidence issues. This lack of self-assurance manifests itself during the big face-to-face confrontation opposite Boyd, where Moore seems to stutter and trip his way through his dialogue.

As the hours turn into days, the group, despite their obvious differences, find themselves bonding together into a sort-of proxy family unit, the development of which helps to keep the whole thing moving along. This is a rather curious achievement when you consider that the cast rarely leaves the confines of the church for more than a couple of minutes throughout the film’s sixty-minute running time. One of the more charming moments in “High Voltage” involves the group laying claim to the other’s corpse in the instance that cannibalism might be required for survival. I couldn’t help but laugh at that moment. As the film winds down, a conundrum arises for Bill and Billie who are quietly planning to make a midnight break for a ranger station a few miles away, when The Kid (sadly, Diane Ellis’ character is never given a real name) falls through the ice and gets pneumonia. As her condition worsens, fostered along by the ever-dwindling food supply, Bill and Billie have to search their souls for the answer to a moral query which arrives ascending from the darkened heavens all symbolic-like in the form of a small engine plane. Well, what’s that tough question begging an answer, you ask? Um… it involves leaving the group to fend for themselves while they make for the forest ranger station (and their own freedom), or… or, stay at the church and communicate to the passing plane overhead that they are stranded and in dire need of help, thus saving everyone but also guaranteeing them that lengthy prison stretch to serve. What shall they do?

Yeah, like you haven’t already figured it out. Interestingly, it is what they decide on that ultimately seems to be the single thing that draws the ire of most who have seen the film. Christ, given all the religious subtext, what did they expect? Personally, considering all the angry, ugly crap, which I’m constantly bombarded with day to day at work and on television, I absolutely loved the way Howard Higgin chose to end the picture. Hell, I even liked that they decided to head back with the detective, emerging out of the cold, barren church setting, a sort-of symbolic purgatory, as true moral converts. As one of the more hilarious posters on the imdb.com stated, a contemporary version of the same film would be much different than this. “If produced within these last thirty years, Boyd would have found a means of teaching Lombard the real meaning of "Hoppy," Carol's vocabulary would have made a Marine blush, and The Kid would have spent much of the story blowing dope,” wrote Charles Gilkison. As silly as his quote might sound, Charles is probably one-hundred percent correct in his assumptions. Director’s today seem to equate ugly with authentic. For me, “High Voltage” was nice and tidy and just what I wanted from an early talkie. Even William Boyd, who would better utilize his imposing profile playing the iconic Hopalong Cassidy; here he comes across as almost teddy bear-like, minus a few irritable moments during his introduction. By the end, when we discover that he’s wanted in Minnesota, I couldn’t help but think to myself: He must have torn that tag off the mattress or something.

Nevada born sexpot, Carole Lombard, in her first talkie, makes a much smoother transition than some of her cast-mates (cough, Owen Moore, cough). She’s has a genuine sex appeal that makes for some interesting moments opposite her male co-stars, as well as Diane Ellis. C’mon, like you didn’t get that homo-erotic vibe in the car. Maybe it’s just me. Sadly, none of Lombard’s comedic skills are on display here as they were nearly seventeen years later in her most famous film, “My Man Godfrey”. She does provide a believable love interest for Boyd’s character and, yeah, I even got the sense that she could be the kind of bad girl headed for a stretch in the pogie. The early scene where she lights up while standing beside a gas pump had me chuckling. About the only real problem I had with the film was listening to Owen Moore (1937’s “A Star is Born”) belting out some horrible Irish folk song for no particular reason. Dear god, save me! Owen Moore appeared in nearly 300 films beginning in 1908 until his death in 1937, of a heart attack. I guess it’s not by coincidence that of those 300 titles, only a dozen or so were talkies.

Adding to the previous sad note, Diane Ellis, you know the girl who played The Kid, would die less than a year after making this film. Bummer. Howard Higgin, the director, would also die (of pneumonia) less than ten years after this film’s release. Double bummer.