Never a dull moment, but all over the map. In its short 58 minute run time, it's got elements of the Depression, romance, gangsters, a psychopath on the loose, an aging cop with just one week to go before he gets his pension (gosh will anything go wrong?), a grisly murder straight out of Tod Browning, and some pretty scary stunt scenes involving a lion. Joan Blondell is as charming as always and she has good chemistry with Wallace Ford, but since this one tried to pack too much other stuff in, we don't get enough of it. While you can certainly do better if you're looking for a pre-Code film, it has a certain entertainment appeal in all of the things that go on. Much as I like Joan Blondell though, what stands out are the lion scenes, and I'd love to know more about how they were filmed.
Review of Central Park
