Anything for a Thrill

Kane Richmond is Cliff, young newsreel photographer looking for a big break. Frankie Darro is his little brother Don, determined to follow his brother into the newsreel business. The break comes when Cliff is assigned to capture pictures of heiress Betty Kelley (Ann Evers), who has never been photographed but—according to the boss's secret information—is coming into town!

Frankie's girlfriend Jean (June Johnson) goes along for the ride, alternately annoying Frankie with her affectionate pestering and assisting him with moral support and enthusiasm. They make a fun couple—lots of good-natured kidding back and forth that isn't especially witty but is at least bright and delivered with energy. His visit to the diner where she works is a highlight of the show, even though it does nothing for the plot—basically, their flirting over the counter builds into a scene where seated customers are shouting out "Pretty pretty please" and Frankie is tossing them cookies across the room. Kind of bizarre, yes.

The heiress is a spoiled rich kid. Why doesn't she want anyone to photograph her? What does she see in that stuffy English "earl" who is actually a crook in disguise? --No time for plot development here; suffice it to say that in very short order she buys the newsreel company, punishes Richmond by holding him to his contract, fires him for disobeying orders, is forced by him to watch some juicy robbery footage that Frankie has captured, and….well, somewhere in there she apparently changes her mind about strong-minded photographers who call her a spoiled brat….

Overall, it's a film that's pretty dumb but a lot of fun. How many times do you see a bunch of gangsters playing jacks for money and arguing nearly to the point of drawn guns about whether that last play was for threeseys or fourseys?

Silly disguise: Richmond in a fake beard pretending to be a portrait artist. (He doesn't fool the heiress.) Darro's frequently repeated line to his girlfriend, always pretending to be annoyed: "There you go again, always wantin' to do what somebody else does!"

Nothing special, I guess, but when it was over I found myself wishing it would go on.