6/10
Robinson away from Warners
19 August 2015
Sick of gangster roles, Edward G. Robinson entered into a fight with Warners and left for the UK to make "Thunder in the City" in 1937.

The story concerns Dan Armstrong, a slick marketing promoter who loses his job in the U.S. because the company he works for thinks his methods are old-fashioned and low-class. They suggest he go to England to learn how civilized people market and advertise.

Once there, Dan gets right down to it, inflating the value of stock to beat out a businessman (Ralph Richardson) who wants to buy it from the original owners (Nigel Bruce and Constance Collier). The product being produced is called magnelite but don't ask me or anyone else what it does.

Robinson is always great, and even though this is somewhat low- budget, it comes off okay thanks to the talent. This is an early film for Ralph Richardson who is excellent as a man in competition for the product and for the hand of Lady Patricia (Lulu Deste), whom Dan has fallen for.

Enjoyable and feel-good. Sorry it didn't do better at the box office. Robinson was a great gangster, but he was delightful in this as well.
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