...the answer is NO!! There wasn't much heat lightning going on in this movie either!! Ann Dvorak had been one of the most exciting new talents to emerge in the early thirties but her rebellious attitude with studio heads made sure her talent was kept under a rock and her role as Myra in this film was a part any contract actress could have played. It was just another nail in the coffin of Ann's once promising career. It was up to good old Aline MacMahon to give some vitality to her role as Olga, the older sister, who has managed to keep her passions hidden for many years.
This movie appears more like a very watered down version of "The Petrified Forest" without the psychological undertones and the powerhouse performance of Humphrey Bogart. Preston Foster had shown he could give dynamic performances (his Killer Meares in "The Last Mile") but unfortunately not in this movie. Olga and Myra run a road side diner 1,000 miles from anywhere, smart and efficient Olga servicing the cars, Myra yearning to get away. Poor Ann spends most of the movie with her head in her arms. For a service station, stuck in the middle of nowhere, it does a brisk trade, there is a bickering older couple, two would be starlets (lively Muriel Evans is billed as a blonde cutie), two freshly divorced gals on their way back from Reno (Glenda Farrell and Ruth Donnelly) and Jerry (Preston Foster) and his jittery sidekick (Lyle Talbot) on the run from a bank holdup. Jerry knows Olga from years before, he is the man she is trying to forget. When he overhears Mrs. Tifton (Farrell) discussing her jewelry he decides to play on Olga's pent up emotions - and have his friend rob the divorcée, but plans are changed when the women decide to put the jewelry in the safe. Not only does Olga realise she has been played for a fool but Myra comes home from the party that she had been forbidden to go to a bit the worse for wear.
For all the "action" (and I use the term loosely) the movie doesn't seem to go anywhere but amazingly Aline MacMahon gets a part she can really sink her teeth into. Her Olga is no nonsense and all business but when her past catches up with her she displays vulnerability and longing in a very real way!!! There was no one like Aline!!!
This movie appears more like a very watered down version of "The Petrified Forest" without the psychological undertones and the powerhouse performance of Humphrey Bogart. Preston Foster had shown he could give dynamic performances (his Killer Meares in "The Last Mile") but unfortunately not in this movie. Olga and Myra run a road side diner 1,000 miles from anywhere, smart and efficient Olga servicing the cars, Myra yearning to get away. Poor Ann spends most of the movie with her head in her arms. For a service station, stuck in the middle of nowhere, it does a brisk trade, there is a bickering older couple, two would be starlets (lively Muriel Evans is billed as a blonde cutie), two freshly divorced gals on their way back from Reno (Glenda Farrell and Ruth Donnelly) and Jerry (Preston Foster) and his jittery sidekick (Lyle Talbot) on the run from a bank holdup. Jerry knows Olga from years before, he is the man she is trying to forget. When he overhears Mrs. Tifton (Farrell) discussing her jewelry he decides to play on Olga's pent up emotions - and have his friend rob the divorcée, but plans are changed when the women decide to put the jewelry in the safe. Not only does Olga realise she has been played for a fool but Myra comes home from the party that she had been forbidden to go to a bit the worse for wear.
For all the "action" (and I use the term loosely) the movie doesn't seem to go anywhere but amazingly Aline MacMahon gets a part she can really sink her teeth into. Her Olga is no nonsense and all business but when her past catches up with her she displays vulnerability and longing in a very real way!!! There was no one like Aline!!!