User reviews

Advertising man Dan Armstrong (Edward G. Robinson) is fired because his ideas are seen as out-of-date and undignified by his bosses, who cite the English as having a respectable approach to business. He decides to go to England to visit relatives. While there he falls for pretty Lady Patricia (Luli Deste), who is considering marrying stuffy jerk Manningdale (Ralph Richardson) just for his money. Dan cooks up a scheme to help his financially struggling family as well as make himself enough money he could provide Patricia with more security than Manningdale.

Pretty much any film with Eddie G. is worth watching and this is no exception. It's a fish-out-of-water story with the colorful American teaching and learning from the staid Brits. The funniest scene to me was when Robinson gets lost in the family manor. It's all genial enough and the cast is certainly a quality one. Robinson is great. Richardson is always good. Nigel Bruce and Constance Collier are fun. Interesting look at British/American relations and attitudes at the time.

I'd love to know how producer Alexander Esway landed Edward G. Robinson for this low budget British feature. Robinson plays a crafty American businessman who relocates to the old country in order to pick up a few pointers--in addition to teaching the locals a few tricks about wealth creation. Nigel Bruce is delightful (and typically fuddled) as the nobleman who sells his stake in some Rhodesian mines to Robinson, Ralph Richardson is nice and chilly as the villain of the piece, and sexy Luli Deste is adequate as the film's love interest. For a low budget effort, the film is very well made, and features a few impressive sequences, most notably a brief scene in the Escher-like Challoner Hall that seems to consist primarily of staircases leading nowhere. The old Madacy Video tape leaves a lot to be desired, however: their print is worn and washed out. Thunder In the City is no classic, but it deserves to get cleaned up for DVD.

The Atlantic Film Company only released one film--"Thunder in the City". I know nothing about this British company but was surprised to see a big star from the era, Edward G. Robinson, slumming it with a small production company instead of working with familiar old Warner Brothers. Regardless of why he agreed to this, it turned out to be an enjoyable sort of movie.

The film begins with Robinson being fired from his job. It seems his way of marketing didn't sit well with the company, as they didn't like his hard sell techniques. On a whim, he decides to travel to the UK to look up some relatives and ends up coming up with a crazy scheme to market something that he knows nothing about--a mineral called magnalite. And, he actually is able to pull it off with a nationwide crazy blitz that got the Brits abuzz about this 'miracle metal'. However, the path to riches isn't all THAT easy, as he's about to discover the hard way.

Robinson turns in a rather delightful performance as a good-hearted huckster. However, he's ably supported by a nice cast that includes Ralph Richardson and Nigel Bruce (among others). Not a brilliant film by any means but enjoyable throughout. Fluff? Perhaps...but enjoyable fluff!

Edward G. Robinson is an American ad executive whose barnstorming style is judged to be too flamboyant, so he travels to England to learn restraint and dignity. While visiting with his aristocratic relatives, he falls for Luli Deste, the daughter of destitute Duke Nigel Bruce. Bruce owns a mine in Rhodesia that's rich is the miraculous mineral magnalite, so Robinson maneuvers to buy it out from under the nose of banker and romantic rival Ralph Richardson. Lacking the money to follow through with his promised purchase price, Robinson engages in a flamboyant campaign to push magnalite to the British public and recruit investors in his mine. An agreeable if pretty slight romantic comedy that sees Robinson escaping his tough guy persona, ably supported by a top notch British cast.

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.

If you imagine a whimsical Frank Capra film but without any of the cheesy sentimentality you're imagining this. For once EGR plays a normal, natural and completely believable character but he's far from dull. You can forget sometimes that because he often played over-the-top roles what a good actor he was. He makes this normal, nice guy seem completely real and likeable. It's not EGR being EGR, this could be your best mate.

Like a typical Capra/Riskin movie, the plot doesn't really make sense but when skilfully made, even the daftest storylines are believable and this is no exception. What makes it work is top quality production. Here we have direction from one of Hollywood's best - yes best directors, Marion Gering (you'll never find one of his films which isn't either excellent or at least very good). He came to England to make this for his friend, the Hungarian director Alexander Esway who had decided to set up his own independent film studio in England.

For Esway's first production he picked a top director, a top actor and a top writer. The result was a very classy, gentle uplifting picture. Audiences at the time however didn't appreciate EGR's nuanced delivery they didn't want him subtle acting like a normal actor - they wanted explosive EGR. When looked at today that nuanced thoughtful style of acting which he demonstrates in this seems much more akin to the style of acting we see these days rather than what was common in the 1930s.

It's not an especially memorable film. It's not a classic but it's got that same charm and warm feeling you get from a Capra film. You'll never see another Atlantic Pictures production - 1937 wasn't the best time to start up a new film company but considering that this was a brand-new start up the quality is comparable with what the likes of Paramount and Gaumont-British were doing.

An inoffensive light comedy but it makes the mistake of trying to sell us Edward G Robinson as a comedic, romantic lead. Attention does stray at times. Fortunately, outside of his Holmes' film appearances, Nigel Bruce has one of his larger filml roles. He is billed second and is great fun as the befuddled and loveable Duke. The best sequence in the film features Bruce and Robinson at a fairground.

In the middle of one of his disputes with the Brothers Warner, Edward G. Robinson went over to the United Kingdom to make this feature about a fast talking promoter who essentially inflates the value of some mining stock to get more money for the owner who is being squeezed by a tough minded businessman in the purchasing negotiations. The owners are Nigel Bruce and Constance Collier and the businessman is Ralph Richardson in one of his early screen roles.

The role Robinson is playing is one Pat O'Brien probably would have been better suited for, it's the kind of fast talking ballyhoo artist that O'Brien did in his sleep. Bruce and Collier are fine, but Ralph Richardson really gives the best performance with Donald Calthrop as a French chemist who has patented the process to manufacture the 'magnalite' ore from the Bruce/Collier mines, a close second.

If anyone can tell me what magnalite is I'd like to know. Robinson promotes it in the way that Rock Hudson promoted Vip in Lover Come Back.

Thunder in the City is a great deal cheaper on the production values than anything Robinson was doing at Warner Brothers and unfortunately it shows. Still it's not a bad film and it certainly shows British business practice sure ain't different than American ones.

A rather silly Capraesque comedy whose script by Robert Sherwood doesn't bear up to a couple of minute's reflection, but is enhanced by slick production values, a game supporting cast of Brits (the fact that Lord & Lady Glenavon have such a Teutonic daughter is glossed over over by her supposedly having spent several years in Vienna) and Edward G. Robinson obviously enjoying himself in a break from playing gangsters; as an entrepreneur too brash for America so he gets sent to Britain. Yeah, right...

Edward G Robinson is remembered for playing snarling gangsters and other tough guys, but in real life he was a very cultured man, a collector of art and antiques. (Robinson acquired a Van Gogh before that artist was well-known.) 'Thunder in the City' is a low-budget film that Robinson made in England, playing a fairly normal person for once. I wanted to like this movie, as it brought back memories for me of the one occasion when I met Robinson (in London, when he was buying antiques in the Portobello Road). Sadly, despite the presence of an excellent cast and a good performance by Robinson, this film is not very entertaining.

Despite its low budget, 'Thunder in the City' opens with an extremely impressive montage by Ned Mann, and offers several other impressive montages throughout the movie. Those montages are the best things in this film. The single biggest problem is that 'Thunder in the City' (with its overly dramatic title) can't seem to figure out what sort of movie it wants to be. This material has the general pacing and feel of a comedy, but it isn't funny, and it's not quite engaging enough to be a drama. A previous IMDB poster has compared this movie to 'Beat the Devil'. Sorry, but 'Thunder in the City' hasn't got one percent of the wit of that film.

Robinson takes centre stage as Dan Armstrong, a high-pressure publicity agent in charge of the New York campaign for a motorcar called the Straight 8. (He doesn't seem to be bothered that the car has an illegible logo.) When the ad campaign fizzles, Armstrong's bosses pressure him into resigning because they haven't the bottle to sack him outright. One of Armstrong's bosses tells him that he could learn from the example of the English, who were so efficient in acquiring Suez. (No comment.) This prompts Armstrong to recall his prankster grandfather, an Englishman who fled to America in disgrace after he stole a mummy out of the British Museum and smuggled it into the front bench in the House of Lords. Now, Armstrong conveniently recalls that he still has relatives in England, and even though he's never met them he assumes they'll be delighted if he pops round for a visit. (Frankly, Edward G Robinson doesn't look as if his ancestors came from the sceptred isle.)

Armstrong's relations are the Duke and Duchess of Glenarvon, lounging about in Challoner Hall, which has been the family home for 20 generations. They've got titles and bloodlines but no money. (This is the most plausible part of the movie.) When they learn that Armstrong is coming to visit, they assume he's wealthy and that he plans to buy Challoner Hall. Young relative Dolly eagerly hopes that she'll be able to land a rich husband. (Dolly is played by Elizabeth Inglis, who would soon land a very rich husband indeed; in real life, she married the president of NBC television and became the mother of Sigourney Weaver.)

When Armstrong shows up on their doorstep, we get the usual hackneyed 'Our American Cousin' situations, contrasting a brash Yank with some buttoned-up British bluebloods. When the Glenarvons inquire into the fate of Armstrong's grandfather, Robinson has the only funny line in this movie: "It was his ambition to be an inmate in every state in the Union. But he died before he got to South Dakota."

Armstrong has a 'meet cute' scene with Lady Patricia: nice work by her stunt double here, as Lady Pat falls off her horse. Lady Patricia is supposed to be an English blueblood, but she's played by untalented Austrian actress Luli Deste with an accent full of wienerschnitzel. There's a line of dialogue to explain that Lady Pat has spent a lot of time in Vienna. Luli Deste's scenes are so painful to watch (and listen to) that she ruins the few merits this film possesses. The movie would have made more sense if Elizabeth Inglis and Luli Deste had swapped roles during rehearsal.

Learning that the Glenarvons' investments are all tied up in Rhodesian mines, Armstrong whips up a publicity campaign for a 'miracle metal' called Magnalite (it might as well be McGuffinite) that these mines allegedly produce. Soon, he has a veritable South Seas Bubble on his hands, as English working-class folk (with bad Cockney accents) queue up to invest their savings in this sure-fire deal. (When you see Sid, tell him not to bother.)

Speaking of bad accents, the English actors who play Americans in this film (mostly in the early scenes) aren't very believable. Veteran film composer Miklos Rozsa has never impressed me, yet here he surpasses himself by bringing in every possible musical cliche. When Robinson arrives in England, the soundtrack plays 'Land of Hope and Glory'. When he visits a funfair, the soundtrack plays 'The Loveliest Time of the Year' ... the same waltz music that shows up in almost *every* movie featuring a scene at the circus or carnival.

The ending of the film manages to be very sudden and extremely muddled. There are good things in 'Thunder in the City', but they're few and far between. Nigel Bruce gives a good performance as the Duke of Glenarvon; I wish I could say as much for the annoying Constance Collier as his wife. I've savoured Ralph Richardson's distinctive performances elsewhere, but here he merely takes up space. Fans of Edward G Robinson who want to see this movie should be forewarned that Robinson does nothing here that he didn't do much more skilfully in almost any of his Hollywood films. I'll rate 'Thunder in the City' only 3 out of 10, mostly for those delicious montages - which belong in a better movie - and for that one impressive stunt-doubling when Lady Patricia comes a cropper.

Nigel Bruce, Watson to Basil Rathbone's Sherlock Holmes in the 1939 "Hound of the Baskervilles" and of the 1940s Holmes movies, was usually cast as a befuddled and kindly Englishman. The actual second son of a baronet, in this 1937 movie he portrays the English Duke who owns an African mine of useless metal no one knows anything about. Edward G. Robinson plays a brash American who gets involved in promoting the mineral. Ralph Richardson, later knighted by the Queen for theatrical excellence, makes an early film appearance. He later played Dr. Watson on British radio with Sir John Geilgud as Holmes. Arthur Wontner made 5 British Sherlock Holmes movies in the early to mid 1930s. Here he makes small but effective appearances as the English cousin of Robinson's returning American, the father of adult children and the owner of an enormous estate that Robinson gets lost in. This is not an exciting, complex movie, but serves a purpose in filmdom for bringing together Bruce, Richardson and Wonter in one story. I plan on winning some bets with other Sherlockians with this information. P.S. I liked the movie itself, it had all the content of an episode of "Friends".

I don't think Edward G Robinson was ever in a really bad movie, or that he ever gave a bad performance. But, "Thunder in the City" had a lukewarm outing with critics and moviegoers. It finished the year way down on the box office list - 141st. The film was made in England, and the story opens in the U. S. and soon goes to Great Britain.

The film is billed as a comedy, crime and drama. The plot probably confused many people who couldn't see the crime in the film. I watched the film before reading that it was also a crime film, and I wondered at the light and off-handed humorous treatment of creating a corporation and selling shares in something that Robinson's Dan Armstrong knew nothing about, and had no concrete plans for how to turn it into a money-maker. Well, that turns out to the crime aspect of this plot.

But, even otherwise, audiences might be confused with the story. Here's a top salesman, an energetic go-getter, and a nice guy - Dan Armstrong. He's decent to everyday people, as witnessed by his passing the hat for Edna and Bill, the street musicians, and then inviting them to his hotel for lunch. But, on the other hand, he thinks salesmanship is the god of life - the purpose of life above all else. He had no scruples about promoting the Snyderling automobile, which he later tells his distant cousin, James, "is a phony."

The confusion is apparent in the character himself. And, I suspect that that was the intention in the character as written - and played by Robinson. Here was a guy with a lot of energy, willing to sell, a friend of the people, but if the product he sells isn't very good, it doesn't matter. So, it turns out that this is a sort of morality tale, and a clear satire about advertising and promoting sales.

The story is interesting and most amusing when Dan gets to England and meets his distant cousins and their friends. The exaggeration about advertising to sell products is absurd in both the U. S. and England when Dan hires blimps to fly over the cities, dropping pamphlets, floating banners and with trapeze artists swinging below them. If one could find that many blimps in existence, a single event like that would likely cost more than an entire advertising budget for a year or more. But, that type of exaggeration in the plot heightens the satire. Then, at his talk to his new young sales force, Dan has a large chart with a man's head from the side view, and sections of the brain labeled: Escape Mechanism, Sales Resistance, Curiosity, Romance, and Greed.

Well, the story becomes somewhat of a fantasy, as well as a battle of wits between Dan and Henry Manningdale. Ralph Richardson plays him, supposedly the wealthiest financier in England. He's also the man whom Lady Patricia is close to marrying - for money, of course, to help bail out her parents, The Duke and Duchess. That makes it a double contest because Dan also has his eyes set on Patricia. Nigel Bruce and Constance Collier do very well in the roles of Duke and Duchess. And Lady Patricia is the first appearance in English films of German actress Luli Deste. She does well in this role, but didn't click when she went to Hollywood, so after a few more films she quit acting in 1941.

As couched satire and subtle morality tale, "Thunder in the City" is quite good. But as outright comedy, and a crime and drama, some may not think it to be that good. Here are some of the better lines in this film.

Snyderling, "It's undignified." Dan Armstrong, "Well, certainly it is. But what's dignity got to do with salesmanship?"

Dan Armstrong, "From the looks of your faces, I can see that this is somebody's funeral. What I wanna know is, am I the corpse?"

Snyderling, "It was overselling that brought on the depression that nearly ruined America, and I'm not going to let it ruin Snyderling. What was the first country to come out of the depression? England! Why? Dignity! We should learn that from England. And you should learn it to."

Dan Armstrong, "Say, I've got relations there. My grandfather was the black sheep of one of England's best families. Maybe they can tach me how to sell automatic egg-beaters."

Dan Armstrong, discussing his grandfather with his English relatives, "Well, he certainly had a great career in the U. S. A." Lady Challoner, "Oh, what did he do?" Armstrong, "He investigated jails." Lady Challoner, "Oh!" Armstrong, "That is, as an inmate. It was his ambition to serve time in every state of the union. But he died before he got to South Dakota."

James Challoner, "I'm trying to play the family to get rid of our old Rolls and buy one of your Snyderling Straight A's - oh, it's a lovely car." Dan Armstrong, "Oh, don't you believe it. It's a phony. All snappy lines, but no endurance. You stick to your Rolls."

Dan Armstrong, "Twenty generations? Boy, that's an awful lot of time. You know, over in New York we begin to get restless after we've been in an apartment as long as two weeks."

Dan Armstrong, "Hey, uh, where's the bathroom?" Jenkins, "Up two flights of stairs, sir. Through the armory to the West wing, bear left, and at the farthest end of the long corridor, sir." Armstrong, "Very convenient." Jenkins, 'Uh, yes, sir." Armstrong, "You think I can make the bathroom and shave in one day?" Jenkins, "Well, why, why of course, sir."

Dan Armstrong, "Tell me, Duke, is she gonna marry that fellow, Manningdale?" The Duchess, "If she knows what's good for her, she will." Armstrong, "But does she know what's good for her?" The Duchess, "Heh, heh." The Duke, "No." Armstrong, "Oh, that's fine."

As most commenters here on IMDB have noted, this one was made in England, and has lower production values than one would expect in a 1930s movie starring Robinson. It isn't a great movie, to be sure, but it isn't much different than most "foreign films" in those days. Try watching a Claire Luce film, or a Gertrude Lawrence movie from the 1930s - both famous English stars of the day. While neither of them could approach the megawatt stardom or talent of Hollywood actresses, you can still see the best treatment that Britain could offer her biggest stars at that time.

Actually, "Thunder in the City" stands up very well to other British films of that day.

Robinson and Bruce dominate the film. Richardson, one of the greatest English actors, disappears so completely in scenes with them that it's obvious their training and experience in Hollywood placed them on an entirely different level from everyone around them.

The difference in quality that is so glaring to viewers today, is really because they are accustomed to watching movies of the '30s that were produced by Hollywood studios.