Review of Thunderbolt

Thunderbolt (George Bancroft) is a notorious criminal, a gang leader, and his girl is Ritzy (Fay Wray). Some day she tells him: „I'm going to quit". He knows that there must be another man and tracks his rival (Bob, a bank employee) down, but finally he gets caught.

That's the point where the film actually begins: in prison (death row). The very nervous warden (Tully Marshall is really great!) welcomes him with the words „Couldn't be more comfortable at the Ritz". He takes him to cell 3. „...and look out for pneumonia. Might give this place a bad name."

There are 10 cells and the men call themselves by the numbers (a similar film is „The Last Mile"- 1932). Some of those occupiers form a singing group; but because „they took our tenor yesterday", one asks: „Hey, Number 3! Do you sing tenor?" Thunderbolt: „Who, me?" (laughs) „I kill tenors."

The sound quality of this very entertaining and revolutionary movie (the actors are often not to see while they speak) is astonishing - considering the fact that it was made in 1929. It's true that the over-accentuated way of speaking (especially Bancroft) is today hard to tolerate, but because the sound film was very young at that time it's excusable.