I watched this in preparation for "Europa." Both are essentially railroad movies.This is about a gangster who has come out of hiding to take a train trip to from Los Angeles to Chicago to collect on a sweepstakes ticket. On the train, several disguises become apparent among other passengers as well. It is not remotely interesting except for one actor, the Pullman Porter. He is Stepin Fetchit, a man who in later years became reviled for his scraping and bowing, his complete acceptance and deserving of the bottom class. I've seen him and his cohorts before. There was one in almost every movie of this era. They make me squirm, not so much for what they are but because it makes me wonder what I easily accept now that my grandchildren will revile.But here, my god, he is a blast. He had me rolling on the floor and I have to actually send you to this for a masterful performance.Yes, he plays a stereotype. But it has a few mitigating factors. First, every soul in the thing is a comic stereotype, from the pug, the palooka, moll, Irish copper, German sanatorium doctor and so on. The big thing is that Fetchit's acting is what I call folded. He plays a moron, with a vocal rhythm that bests today's rappers. Sure he plays a moron. But the character is constantly talking to himself about what morons the other characters are. And the fold — he knows he is playing a fake being and opens a separate channel with the audience, winking at himself and you for going along.The US has a strange racial history, and there is much to be ashamed of. But talent is talent and this guy is good.Ted's Evaluation -- 2 of 3: Has some interesting elements.

Eugene Forde directs this low budget "gangster" gem which proceeds predictably enough until we get to the climax which has sufficient twists & turns to separate it from the norm & maybe even satisfy a Hitchcock fan or two. But what really separates this film from not only the B film but any film is the abundant use of humor. In addition to some pretty corny but ofttimes amusing gags involving Warren Hymer as Hazy (aka Mr Metropolitan to the little girl who wants to be read to) we have what I would call a runaway Stepin Fetchit. Mr Forde lets him have his way as the Pullman porter mumbling through scene after scene trying to accomplish his job while others have different ideas of what he should be doing. In fact, I would recommend this film to anyone who has not seen Stepin Fetchit or anyone who enjoys a laugh or two while digesting their gangster/romance/drama film appetite.

36 Hours to Kill (1936) ** 1/2 (out of 4) I had never heard of this film before seeing it but I noticed it had Brian Donlevy and Gloria Stuart so I decided to record it off FMC. A fugitive thief (Douglas Fowley) boards a train in L.A. so that he can get to Kansas City to collect $150,000 that he won in a jackpot. Hoping to evade the police who are looking for him, he gets to know a reporter (Donlevy) and a woman (Stuart) who is also running from the police. To say anything else would ruin a few surprises the film has to offer. This is a pretty good little thriller that has plenty of turns in the screenplay but all of this is ruined by some incredibly bad comic relief in the form of a retarded (or just plain stupid) black operator on the train. I'm not sure if this guy was suppose to be retarded or if its a black stereotype of a really dumb guy but this humor really kills the mystery of the film. The three leads are in very good form and director Eugene Forde, who also did some Chan films for Fox, keeps things moving nicely.

This long forgotten B movie from 20th Century Fox magically popped up on the Fox Movie Channel this morning. The fact that among its cast members was Stepin Fetchit, naturally drew my curiosity. The only previous film I'd seen with Fetchit was John Ford's "Steamboat Round the Bend", which was without a doubt the worst portrayal I had ever seen of an African-American on the big screen (except perhaps "Birth of a Nation"). Fetchit, along with Willie Best, were the two most well-known of the Coon stereotype. The coon is a lazy, worthless, unreliable, clumsy, slow-witted, big bulgy-eyed (looks like they're stoned), butchers the English language, making his speech incoherent. His sole purpose is for comic relief. While Best's portrayals are pretty awful too, they're nowhere near as bad as Fetchit's. (If you're interested in learning more about this and the four other major stereotypes, I highly recommend reading Donald Bogle's "Toms, Coons, Mulattoes, Mammies, & Bucks", an excellent read). The film also features very briefly a well spoken, intelligent Tom in two separate scenes.This film centers on a gangster hiding in a small town in California, now number one on the FBI's wish list. Realizing he won a small fortune in a sweepstakes, he hops on a train to Kansas City to collect it, convinced nobody will catch onto him. On board, he meets an undercover agent disguised as a reporter and an actual reporter (played by a very young and beautiful Gloria Stuart, who by far and away shines brighter than everyone else in this movie) disguised as a runaway witness to a political crime. The entire 2nd act takes place on a train where we are introduced to the porter, played by Fetchit. Here, Fetchit is no exception to the above-mentioned characteristics, except even worse. Here, he appears to be downright mentally retarded. No joke. The one small positive is that the film counters Fetchit's comic relief with the white gangster's side kick (unintentional I'm sure). He's more of the big oaf, moron type. However, he's also lazy, worthless, slow-witted, unreliable and clumsy.Aside from the offensive portrayal of Fetchit, the rest of the film isn't too bad. None of the other studios could match Warner Bros. back in the 1930s with the gangster picture, but this is a reasonably well done picture that will keep you entertained. Well worth watching as a time capsule and if you're interested in seeing Fetchit for yourself.