Torchy Runs for Mayor

Torchy Runs for Mayor (1939)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

The eighth film in the Warner series turned out to be Glenda Farrell's last as she would walk away from the series after appearing in seven of the films. This time out she's trying to bring down a group of racketeers and dirty politicians but to do so she must put herself in danger by trying to run against them for the Mayor office. TORCHY RUNS FOR MAYOR isn't going to win any awards but there's enough going in it to make it worth watching for fans of the series. The story itself is pretty much your typical "B" plot that you could find in dozens of Warner pictures. We've got the dirty gangster who is using money to get into politics. You've got the cops and newspaper editors who are too scared to stand up against them. You then have the hero who will stop at nothing to bring them down. I do wonder why the gangsters would kill anyone who got in their way yet they seem to let Torchy do pretty much anything instead of just knocking her off. Farrell is in pretty good form here as she once again has no problem slipping into the role. The screenplay actually doesn't give her too much to do and there's a good portion of the film where she doesn't appear at all. Both Barton MacLane and Tom Kennedy are good in their parts but they too really aren't given anything special to do. Director Ray McCarey at least keeps the 60-minute running time moving at a fast pace and there's certainly nothing harmful here.