Movie review - "Torrid Zone" (1940) ***

Few movies ripped off others so brazenly - this one takes its inspiration from Only Angels Have Wings (American show girl stuck in nameless South American country and has adventures with tough, wisecracking Americans working for an American company down there who seem to run the place), The Front Page (Pat O'Brien tries to talk company man James Cagney out of retiring to a desk job) and Red Dust (trashy but honest Ann Sheridan chases after Cagney who is involved with a woman married to one of his co workers).

It doesn't always work - the piece shifts tone, and doesn't always seem to understand what worked about those plots in the other film. For instance, there's no real connection between Cagney and the married woman (whereas Clark Gable genuinely falls for Mary Astor in Red Dust) or Cagney and her husband (they don't really like each other - whereas in Dust they were good friends); O'Brien's friendship with Cagney seems underdeveloped. 

But the Only Angels Have Wings stuff is pretty good, with Ann Sheridan excellent value as the show girl (check out that low cut dress we first see her in), and she teams well with Cagney - even if, oddly, Cagney doesnt appear for the first 20 minutes or so (at first it seems like O'Brien will be the hero). There's lots of bright dialogue, it's fast paced with a strong cast (including George Tobias, who is very fun as a local bandit).

It's also fascinating to see O'Brien and Cagney bossing around the locals as if they run the country. (Which, in this time of United Fruit, American companies may well have done - but it's rare to see a Hollywood film so shameless about its own country's imperialism).