Taming the Wild

"Taming the Wild" is a brisk little adventure, allowing us to go along on the wild ride a rich, privileged heiress ends up taking through the world of gangsterdom, as she tries to proclaim some resistance from accepting what we would assume to be a structured and possibly stuffy life awaiting her after coming totally of age. After all is said and done we and she find that the people who have mattered to her most through life are actually not so bad, and neither are some of her new-found acquaintances gathered during her adventure. Yes, this is another Depression-era "the rich aren't so bad" story. It is done with an array of fun characterizations, including the saucy presence of Barbara Pepper as the nightclub singer who befriends our heiress, and the heiress herself, the very spirited and ready-for-some-limits-testing Maxine Doyle. The dialog and repartee' are often staged well, but the editing seems to have been done under time pressure. There is a coursing of comedy that runs through the program, but things never get to a pace or level that could be termed madcap. Maxine Doyle was a charming and energetic actress and is fun to watch; I always wondered if perhaps it was her name, which sounds more like the name of a part in a B-movie than a modern marquee name of an actress, that hindered her from becoming more well-known in A- pictures. Both Doyle and Pepper had marvelously expressive eyes and they don't disappoint in this one. Adding to the pleasure this film provides are the many street and curbside scenes which afford viewing of numerous magnificent cars from the 1930's, propelling the viewer back into another time. In summation, if you find imaginative the opening scene at the train station where two pairs of well-heeled shoes are talking to each other, you will likely enjoy sticking around for the rest of the film.

If you like to see a woman slapped in the face and paddled on the backside with a hairbrush so hard she says it hurts (purportedly in the name of love), well, join the unenlightened masses. The acting is often of sub B-movie quality and the story is a confusing version of typical gangster pics of the area. I gave it a little credit because the women get some licks in, punching men more than once in the face, and because there is a good "we're in the together" relationship between the two female protagonists.

When this B-movie begins, Dick Clayton (Rod La Rocque) has been hired to keep an eye on June Bolton (Maxine Doyle), a spoiled brat rich girl. She goes from one adventure after another and is the most irresponsible and obnoxious character I've seen in films in a long time. Despite Clayton's best efforts, she ends up in jail...a place that, for once, might teach her that the world does NOT revolve around her! Soon, June is bailed out of jail and sets off with a new friend, Hazel...who happens to be the girlfriend of a mob boss!! Oddly, at this point, Clayton figures out he's in love with June....and I have no idea why!

There is a HUGE problem with this film. Instead of making June kooky or irresponsible but likable, it might have worked. Instead, she's just a b#$%^ and is completely detestable...so much so that it makes no sense at all that Clayton would find himself in love with her! Had they had Clayton kill her...now that would have made sense!! Because of this serious problem, the film is a clear misfire--and I cannot see many people enjoying it, as it does not end with June being tossed under a bus or out the window of some skyscraper!!!

Overall, a cheap and seriously flawed movie, only worth seeing for Rod La Rocque fans...both of them.

June Bolton! Wow, right! She's very girly, smart, spot on the money, brushes of the tuff stuff like it's nothin, and she ain't worried about nothin! Shame Maxine Doyle doesn't have the popularity and notoriety as other silver screen actresses of days past, because she's absolutely wonderful.

A great little film that rolls at a great pace. Just one slight little touch madcap, not enough to make things goofy, hilarious, or silly, but just that right sprinkle of it to add to the cuteness, loveableness, and free spirited passion of the story, and all the characters that pull it together that way. The film pulls together so many genres and therein lies a great deal of it's charm - there's sexiness, romance, passion, comedy, friendship, family, mystery, crime, and drama - and nothing is taken too over seriously, nor too under seriously - in essence this film sums up a great deal of the 30s and 40s and can give you a feeling of looking through a window into what were enjoyed as the good times in that era. I definitely get equal feelings of the professionalism, and the enjoyment of all those invovled - and there is a great deal of both!

There is interesting informative narrative "filling" dashed throughout the story, and the film rolls from character to character, keeping a steady pace of motion, but the majority of the film focuses, intently, like I do, on the smart, sporty, seriously cute June Bolton/Maxine Doyle - and that's the good reason why!

The cute, energetic, exuberant, slightly under expected love story between Richard and June make this a fantastic story, and raises the film from the obscurity of bland romances, crime dramas, or slapstick comedies, into a great film that feels great to watch time and time again! And the spanking scene! Wow :)

Can't help but fall in love!

Rod La Rocque is a lawyer and old family friend of rich madcap Maxine Doyle, deputed by her mother to keep an eye on her. They fight, she gets mixed up with gangsters, and despite some attempts at some interesting shots early on by William Hyer -- he shoots some policemen waiting to pick her up for questioning by the DA from the knee down, since they are there simply to narrate the situation -- Miss Doyle performs her role with so little energy that it's hard to care. Barbara Pepper, on the other hand, as the chorine she meets and bonds with in jail, is quite good -- funny, energetic, sympathetic and pretty.

Aside from that, it was a typical Katzman production, filled with performers like Bryant Washburn, there for marquee value, available for a few day's work on the cheap.