SPEED (1936)

Perhaps the worst movie James Stewart ever made. Actually, for a B-level second feature, I guess it's about average, but the presence of Stewart raises expectations, unrealistically as it turns out. Stewart works for Emery Motors as a mechanic and test driver who is also working, with his buddy Ted Healy, on a new-fangled carburetor. Wendy Barrie is a newly hired publicist whom Stewart takes a shine to as he shows her around the plant. Class conflicts arise when white collar engineer Weldon Heyburn whisks her away to his offices and Stewart is barred from following. Una Merkel plays against type as a smart female executive who is sweet on Heyburn but is concerned that her new status has damaged her relationship with him--she actually wonders out loud if women should be climbing so far up the business ladder! To complete the romantic shenanigans, Healy makes time with an addle-headed secretary (Patricia Wilder). When the first test of the carburetor (at the Indy 500) is ruined by an accident (which puts Healy in a wheelchair for the rest of the movie), Stewart is forced to work with Heyburn on getting the carburetor in shape for another test at the Utah salt flats. This time, it's Stewart who is put in mortal danger through an accident and Heyburn gets to show that he's an OK guy by getting Stewart to a hospital in the nick of time. All the romances work out in the end, with an added bonus when it’s revealed that Barrie is actually the niece of the car company's owner (Ralph Morgan). Silly, obvious, and badly edited to boot, with several awkward fade-out scenes. Some of the racing footage is quite good, especially the shots of the almost futuristic car as it zips through crowds of onlookers at the salt flats. [TCM]