The opening half-hour of "Danger Lights" contains a revealing sequence set in the operational offices of a major railroad as employees deal with an emergency. Here we can see that, to America and Hollywood in 1930, passenger railroading was a mature industry, a national transportation matrix staffed by well-compensated, highly-qualified specialists and depicted on film with all the high-tech allure the airline industry would have forty years later.
"Danger Lights" fits into a long-ago sub-genre of adventure movie, the Locomotive Engineer Adventure. Lon Chaney had made one, "Thunderbolt", as his last silent the previous year.
Another writer on these pages has noted that the human story in "Danger Lights" was a reworking of the Arthurian romantic triangle. Yeah, Right. Triangle, yes, but more like what I call Plot Number 4-A, pulled from the drawer for many a service picture, in which two men (soldiers/flyers/firemen, etc.) find their bond (friendship/father-son/sibling) severed when they are both attracted to the same woman. Usually, the one who feels most spurned or jilted performs some self-sacrificial act of honor near the end to save the other one in a crisis.
On top of all the above is layered an important technological innovation. "Danger Lights" is one of only seven pictures released in 1930-31 in a 70-mm wide screen format. Actually, they were filmed in both the wide screen (alternately called Vitascope, Magnifilm, Natural Vision, Grandeur or Realife), and standard 35 mm formats. I have seen two of the others, "Billy the Kid" and "The Big Trail", and they both have their strengths and weaknesses, but "Danger Lights" is the punchiest, with few draggy moments. It's evident that the compositions even in the 35 version were organized with wide-screen in mind, yet there's good camera movement on hand, and this is especially true whenever a locomotive is prominent.
SPOILERS AHEAD. If you haven't seen "Danger Lights", and intend to, consider going no further. Important plot info appears below.
The characters are surprisingly cavalier about their own personal safety around trains until one of the leads, Robert Armstrong, gets his foot caught when a signal tower changes track configuration for an oncoming "Special". This development, shot atmospherically at night in the rain, carries a real sense of visceral dread. What follows is a bit contrived (though excusable in a tense melodrama), as Louis Wilhelm comes along, has a change of heart (suspensefully shown) and saves Armstrong: we see the train cutting in half the mannequin/dummy substituted at the last minute for the actor, but later find Wilhelm's character's only been banged on the head! True, it's complicated by a blood clot only a big-city doctor can relieve; anyway, now the race is on to get him to Chicago in time.
The camera lingers lovingly on this special train as it hurtles through the mountains, around bends and over trestles at the then-thrilling speed of 100 mph, and the ending's a happy one. At this time actors were still getting used to sound pictures, however, so don't expect to see subtle performances. Even Jean Arthur, so accomplished and smooth in later roles, fails to stay on point here. It's all good, though. This is still probably the best 1930 RKO picture.
"Danger Lights" fits into a long-ago sub-genre of adventure movie, the Locomotive Engineer Adventure. Lon Chaney had made one, "Thunderbolt", as his last silent the previous year.
Another writer on these pages has noted that the human story in "Danger Lights" was a reworking of the Arthurian romantic triangle. Yeah, Right. Triangle, yes, but more like what I call Plot Number 4-A, pulled from the drawer for many a service picture, in which two men (soldiers/flyers/firemen, etc.) find their bond (friendship/father-son/sibling) severed when they are both attracted to the same woman. Usually, the one who feels most spurned or jilted performs some self-sacrificial act of honor near the end to save the other one in a crisis.
On top of all the above is layered an important technological innovation. "Danger Lights" is one of only seven pictures released in 1930-31 in a 70-mm wide screen format. Actually, they were filmed in both the wide screen (alternately called Vitascope, Magnifilm, Natural Vision, Grandeur or Realife), and standard 35 mm formats. I have seen two of the others, "Billy the Kid" and "The Big Trail", and they both have their strengths and weaknesses, but "Danger Lights" is the punchiest, with few draggy moments. It's evident that the compositions even in the 35 version were organized with wide-screen in mind, yet there's good camera movement on hand, and this is especially true whenever a locomotive is prominent.
SPOILERS AHEAD. If you haven't seen "Danger Lights", and intend to, consider going no further. Important plot info appears below.
The characters are surprisingly cavalier about their own personal safety around trains until one of the leads, Robert Armstrong, gets his foot caught when a signal tower changes track configuration for an oncoming "Special". This development, shot atmospherically at night in the rain, carries a real sense of visceral dread. What follows is a bit contrived (though excusable in a tense melodrama), as Louis Wilhelm comes along, has a change of heart (suspensefully shown) and saves Armstrong: we see the train cutting in half the mannequin/dummy substituted at the last minute for the actor, but later find Wilhelm's character's only been banged on the head! True, it's complicated by a blood clot only a big-city doctor can relieve; anyway, now the race is on to get him to Chicago in time.
The camera lingers lovingly on this special train as it hurtles through the mountains, around bends and over trestles at the then-thrilling speed of 100 mph, and the ending's a happy one. At this time actors were still getting used to sound pictures, however, so don't expect to see subtle performances. Even Jean Arthur, so accomplished and smooth in later roles, fails to stay on point here. It's all good, though. This is still probably the best 1930 RKO picture.