Panic on the Air (1936) Poster

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5/10
Murder on the Air
boblipton31 July 2011
Lew Ayres seems to be doing an imitation of Robert Montgomery (although his energy level is considerably higher and his accent seems more genuine) in this stolid but decent Columbia second feature about a radio reporter tracking down a murderer through a forged five dollar bill The script is full of fast talk and wise cracks and that's a major plus, but the near-procedural techniques of the crime-solving give this movie too straightforward a story line to keep up interest.

In addition, the print shown on TCM seems to be a bit dupy for the first two reels, distracting attention from what is going on: the men's suits all look black and the walls and furnishings very light in shade.
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5/10
Panic on the air
coltras3527 November 2023
A sports announcer (Lee Ayres) and a friend investigate after a pitcher misses a series. When they discover that gangsters are trying to find a hidden fortune via a code on five dollar note, they use the radio show to foil the plan.

Another fast and breezy mystery with fast-talking and an energetic hero played by Lee Ayres, though he's a little too energetic. It's sometimes hard to follow the mystery as the dollar note malarkey can be hard to fathom, plus the plot moves too fast and there's not much investigation, however if you're hankering for an entertaining time-filler then don't look too far.
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entertaining second feature
blanche-24 August 2011
"Panic on the Air" is a 1936 second feature starring Lew Ayres, Florence Rice, and Benny Baker. The plot concerns the search for a $5 bill with a code on it that leads to $200,000. It keeps changing hands. Ayres plays a radio announcer who is aggravating his sponsor, a garter company.

Everyone talks very fast in this movie, which was the style. Ayres is very energetic and fun as the announcer. What I loved were the deco sets, furnishings, and those old-fashioned phones.

Florence Rice is the pretty costar who needs that $5 bill herself.

All in all, entertaining, and moves quickly.
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3/10
The only panic I had was in trying to stay awake.
mark.waltz14 September 2018
Warning: Spoilers
In spite of the overly energetic performance of Lew Ayres as a radio news broadcaster in this murder mystery, I had a difficult time in remaining interested due to the uninteresting way in which the film's plot is written. Ayers delivers each broadcast as if he is over caffeinated and as a result becomes a bit too much to take.

The crime itself isn't even very interesting although the idea of a major clue being left on a missing $5 bill in code was rather ingenious. Florence rice, as his girlfriend offers nice support and the supporting cast is decent as well but I'm afraid that this broadcast left me more than ready for the evening sign off.
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