Truly Dreadful Film

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

Edmund Lowe and Wynne Gibson have spectacular chemistry in this tale of a mob mechanic and a mob moll who get together on the bumpy road to love, especially when he can't convince her to sit up in the truck with him and takes her on a joy ride in the anchored car that tosses her around like a sack of potatoes. Lowe, the brother of pretty Lois Wilson, works with his brother-in-law James Wilson and is adored by his happy nephew, the adorable Dickie Moore. He tugs nobly at the heart strings when a sudden brush with one of the stolen cars from the racket Gibson is involved in speeds suddenly towards him, causing near tragedy. This, as well as several other violent segments, really keep you gripped, one involving a deliberate murder that is completely shocking. It's a well written pre-code romantic crime drama with elements of comedy that will keep you hooked. Alan Dinehart as the big boss and George Rosener as a mute brute add some sinister villainy and are totally convincing in their parts. Guinn "Big Boy" Williams is the stereotypical dumb lug who adds a few of the unbelievable moments, especially when he comes across a heinous crime about ready to happen and has no idea of what he's witnessing.It's nice to see Gleason involved in a part that involves romance but casts him against type without the acerbic comedy bits that made him a scene stealer but left little room for versatility. Gibson, sort of a poor man's Mae West, gets out some great wisecracks, and Lowe matches her quip for quip. There are only a few moments that are hard to swallow, but the fast moving script and action packed drama make those easy to forgive. A bit with a dwarf getting a raspberry while marrying a normal sized woman might be considered offensive today, but there's a great pay-off involving that gag. The finale may have you guessing as to what is going to happen, and even if you guess right, you're going to be thrilled by how it is paced and excited by the outcome, even long before it happens.

"Beef" Evans (James Gleason) works in a crooked garage. He takes in hot cars because he wants his wife and son to have the best things in life, but his wife worries about the consequences of his actions. Rightfully so. His new hire, "Gabby" Denton (Edmund Lowe) has his own concerns, and starts investigating the details of the racket.I saw this movie screened at Cinevent 41, and for most of the movie, the sound was out of sync. If I were too bored, I would have left, but I couldn't miss out on seeing Dickie Moore in a rare film. Even when his voice didn't match his expressions, I found myself awwing for his innocence in spite of his predictable role in the story.This is a standard programmer with strong ties to the crime drama genre. If you're a fan of cars and pre-codes, find a copy.

SPOILERS AHEAD. I must disagree with my IMDb colleague Bob Lipton, who says that Dickie Moore gets his legs chopped off in this movie. There's a very convincing special-effects sequence in which little Dickie's go-cart gets run over by a stolen car, and there's some dialogue in hospital about Dickie being crippled, but in the last scene he's walking quite nicely. (Child actor Moore gives a very impressive performance here, unlike several cinema brats I could mention.)'The Devil Is Driving' is a neat B-picture crime drama, in which the spiral ramp of a service garage figures several times in the plot. I was impressed with Henry Sharp's travelling shot of a speeding car up this ramp. Edmund Lowe starts the movie by cheeking a midget bridegroom (step forward, Tod Browning), so I figured Lowe was playing an unsympathetic character, but he turns out to be the hero. James Gleason plays slightly more crooked than usual, as a character improbably named 'Beef' even though there's clearly not much beef on Gleason's frame. Gleason's character gets murdered halfway through the movie, but Gleason remains on camera (in close-up) for some process shots as an automotive corpse, 'driving' a car down that ramp and into traffic. Speaking of undersized actors, little Charles Williams has a larger role than usual here, as a brash newsreel cameraman.Among the great pleasures of 1930s Hollywood films are unexpected performances by obscure bit-part actors who are just occasionally given a chance to shine. The real discovery of 'The Devil Is Driving' is George Rosener (who?), as a sinister deaf-mute henchman of spiv villain Alan Dinehart. If this movie had been made ten years later, Rosener's role would have been tailor-made for the great character actor Milton Parsons. As it is, Rosener -- who strongly resembles Parsons -- gives an astonishingly virtuoso performance in a role with no dialogue at all.Why isn't this programmer better known? And why didn't Rosener get better roles? I'll rate 'The Devil Is Driving' 9 out of 10.

A potentially fascinating story about love and the rackets is rendered into second feature mush by pedestrian direction. You have snappy dialogue, a midget, a criminal gang masterminded by a deaf-mute who communicates via pantograph within the first ten minutes. You're talking about von Sternberg meets Todd Browning here, and the director can't think of anything more interesting than have James Gleason murdered by carbon monoxide poisoning offscreen, which, of course, makes him sit up straight and stare ahead. And poor little Dickie Moore, with his legs chopped off. But it's OK, Edmund Lowe thrashes the baddies at the end and marries Wynne Gibson.Heck. I've given it all away. You'd never expect a happy ending like that. Save your heart from such shocks and give this one a miss.