Torrid Zone

Overview

This film is set on a Central American plantation owned by Pat O'Brien, a supervisor James Cagney would dearly love to leave behind. Complicating the plot is a nightclub singer over whom O'Brien and Tracy do battle, a bored married woman with eyes for Cagney, and a gang of bandits.

Product Details

Release Date:	04/10/2018
UPC:	0888574661441
Original Release:	1940
Source:	Warner Archives
Language:	English
Sales rank:	42,660

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

James Cagney	Nick Butler
Ann Sheridan	Lee Donley
Andy Devine	Wally
Helen Vinson	Gloria
Jerome Cowan	Bob
George Tobias	Rosario
George Reeves	Sancho
Victor Kilian	Carlos
Frank Puglia	Rodriguez
John Ridgely	Gardiner
Grady Sutton	Sam the Secretary
George Humbert	Hotel Manager
Paul Porcasi	Garcia the Hotel Bar Proprietor
Dick Boteler	Hemandez
Frank Yaconelli	Lopez
Paul Hurst	Daniels
Jack Mower	Schaeffer
Frank Mayo	McNamara
Dick Botiller	Hernandez
George Regas	Sergeant of Police
Elvira Sanchez	Rita
Paul Renay	Jose
Rafael Storm	Man
Trevor Bardette	Policeman
Ernesto Piedra	Policeman
Don Orlando	Employee
Wade Boteler	Actor
Manuel Lopez	Chico
Joe Dominguez	Manuel
Joe Molinas	Native
Tony Paton	Charley
Max Blum	Bit Part
Betty Sanko	Bit Part
Victor Sabuni	Bit Part
Pat O'Brien	Steve Case

Technical Credits

Richard Macauley

Jerry Wald

William Keighley	Director
Richard Macauley	Screenwriter
Jerry Wald	Screenwriter
Mark Hellinger	Producer
H.F. Koenekamp	Special Effects
Byron Haskin	Special Effects
Oliver Garretson	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

Anyone visiting the Torrid Zone better be prepared to duck -- not to avoid a stray bullet (though there are a few of those), but to protect himself from the onslaught of wisecracks that are tossed around with such abandon. As might be expected from a film that many consider to be a variation on The Front Page, the lines in Torrid come thick and fast -- and that's just the way it should be. What is unexpected for the period is how double the entendre is in many cases; one wonders how the strict censors of the periods let some of these slide by, but thank goodness they did. The salty, slangy, streetwise dialogue is a huge asset for Torrid; what other film could get a howl from the simple line "History repeats itself"? The effect comes all from the setup (and from Ann Sheridan's impeccable delivery), and the creators of Torrid know exactly how to make setups work. The screenplay and William Keighley's rapid-fire direction are vitally important, but so is the cast. James Cagney and Pat O'Brien are once again a team that works together like a well-oiled machine, with Cagney played his familiar pugnacious ladies' man routine and O'Brien delivering a tougher characterization than usual. The aforementioned Sheridan is sensational, demonstrating that her label as the "Oomph Girl" applies as much to her delivery of a tart wisecrack as to her stunning looks. Andy Devine is his usual bizarrely voiced self, and there's even a young George Reeves on hand. Some of Torrid doesn't hold up as well today, especially its depiction of Latin Americans, but most viewers will give in to its verve and forgive it its flaws.