Torchy Runs for Mayor (1939) User Reviews

Glenda Retires Torchy

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 14 April 2009]

Glenda Farrell filed her last story and in a sense made her own new in this film. Just the title Torchy Runs For Mayor should tell you all you need to know.

Our showgirl turned reporter is after a crooked city administration this time. The mayor, Charles Richman, is a grafter, but he's just a puppet in the hands of the real political boss of the city, John Miljan. Miljan also happens to be a medical doctor which comes in quite handy in his criminal pursuits.

When the original reform candidate Irving Bacon is murdered and another guy framed, Torchy through a bit of a joke by boyfriend Barton MacLane finds herself the reform candidate.

Glenda Farrell is pretty resourceful in getting her news, including an illegal bug in the mayor's office. But Miljan is one clever guy and she gets in more harm's way here than in any other film in the series.

In fact that gives MacLane more of an opportunity. Usually he's just there both being shown up by her as a detective and also getting the accolades for the crimes that she helps solve. But when Farrell does get in harm's way she has need of MacLane.

There was only one more Torchy Blane film, Jane Wyman was given the role with Allen Jenkins as her detective boyfriend. That team set no box office records and Torchy filed her last story with Jane.

This last one with Farrell and MacLane though is pretty good and downright excellent for a B film out of Warner Brothers.

"No one's gonna gag me and get away with it!"

[utgard14 · 7/10 · 27 May 2017]

The eighth film in the Torchy Blane series and the final one starring Glenda Farrell and Barton MacLane. This time Torchy is trying to take down a corrupt politician. The title of the movie eventually does happen, although not until late into the picture. It's an exciting, fast-paced B movie. Arguably the best in the series. There's less comedy and more grit in this one. Stars Farrell and MacLane are both in fine form here, as is Tom Kennedy as the lovable Gahagan. Great support from John Miljan, Frank Shannon, Joe Downing, and Irving Bacon.

The first four Torchy Blane movies were fun little B's with a snappy pace and a nice balance of comedy and murder mystery. Then Farrell and MacLane sat out the fifth film. When they returned, things were a little different. The focus was less on Torchy or the Torchy/Steve relationship and more on the movie's villains and comic relief sidekick Gahagan. He's a fun character but I'm glad his part is scaled back in this one. It allows Farrell to shine in her final Torchy movie. The series would continue on with one more movie starring Jane Wyman.

Snappy dialog, serious overtones in entertaining crime drama

[csteidler · 7/10 · 29 March 2013]

Reporter Torchy Blane denounces City Hall corruption in a series of scathing newspaper stories that are raising some serious hackles. Her fiancé, Lieutenant Steve McBride, even goes to her editor and begs him to have somebody else write the stories—he's worried about Torchy's safety.

And Steve doesn't even know about Torchy's eavesdropping operation in the City Hall basement, from which she listens in on the mayor's office, where local crime boss Dr. Dolan gives the puppet mayor his orders.

Glenda Farrell is back once again as the intrepid reporter who loves to investigate. Barton McLane as Steve is plenty solid this time around—he's still generally a step behind Torchy but isn't as much of a dunce as in a couple of earlier series entries. ("Listen, Steve," Torchy tells him at one point, "I know more about this case than you." "Well," he replies, unimpressed, "if you do I'll find it out.")

John Miljan is appropriately sinister as the wicked Dr. Dolan. In true Warner Brothers style, he talks so fast when he's excited that you can hardly understand him.

Tom Kennedy returns as Gahagan, the poetry-loving police chauffeur who loves to blow the police car siren. Even Gahagan is fairly serious and competent this time around, though he does offer a few choice bits of comic relief (like when he commends Torchy for having such "international fortitude").

An exciting climax helps distinguish this as one of the better Torchy Blane pictures. The plot is a little ridiculous (see the title) but that's kind of beside the point—it's witty, acted with enthusiasm, and moves at a terrific pace.

Torchy Gets Admired To Pieces

[pronker · 7/10 · 3 December 2018]

Torchy gathers information by illegal listening devices and by theft on a dirty political spin doctor (literally, he's an MD) because of her strong belief that he's the evil power behind the throne of the corrupt mayor of her town. She's right, of course, and by the end of the film everyone admires her; even her fellow citizens vote her into office as mayor. Along the way, she's in need of rescuing from a drugged fugue by her fiance, Steve, whose patience with her frays around the edges at times, but never flags.

Miljan plays a slimy, arrogant villainous doctor to perfection as he appeals to the police to get back the little red book containing incriminating names and places of his deals that Torchy stole. He dances well with the police department, who realize that their jobs hinge upon his good graces, yet the police want justice done, too. He gets lots of screen time and he's worthwhile to watch. The fight scenes are the sort of action that Warners handled best, with villains and heroes never losing their fedoras because otherwise viewers could see the stuntmen's faces!

I took off three stars realizing that I'm a biased fan of the series, and also because it was difficult to picture Irving Bacon in a romance with a woman whose protective brother wrote a threatening letter to Irving when Irving proved a cad in his relationship. This means that the brother was a suspect in Irving's murder when police discovered the letter, thus providing a subplot that proved particularly hard to swallow. If another reviewer can explain this plotpoint better, great!

At the end of the story, Steve hustles Torchy off to get a marriage license and they'd better act fast before another newsworthy event needs reporting/investigating. The interrupted wedding supplied an element in several B movie series: Miss Withers (Edna May Oliver and James Gleason), the Saint (George Sanders and his sweety) and now for Torchy and Steve. Like the domestic antics of Dagwood and Blondie in the B's and Nick and Nora in the A's, changing the dynamic of Torchy and Steve to a domestic sort of series would have been interesting and a little bit fun.

Last Farrell 'Torchy' Movie Is Typically Well Done

[boblipton · 7/10 · 4 December 2021]

In her last appearance as Torchy Blane, Glenda Farrell writes a series of stories about the corrupt mayor. When the reform candidate is murdered, she becomes a candidate for the office.

Miss Farrell largely disappears from the last third of the movie when she disappears, and Barton MacLane investigates what he thinks is her kidnapping. I suspect Miss Farrell's contract was ending, and so her role was reduced. Even so, there are plenty amusing bits to this movie, with the usual gang appearing.

The most serious entry in the series

[gridoon2024 · 6/10 · 17 November 2011]

"Torchy Runs For Mayor" was the only film in the series directed by Ray McCarey (brother of the more famous Leo), and the change is noticeable in the film's punchier, more adventurous directorial style compared to its "safer" predecessors. There is a real sense of danger here, with the villains playing it straight. But Torchy is also at her most determined and righteous. The comedy content is reduced, along with Gahagan's part; at the end, even he is transformed into a (mostly) competent action hero! My one main objection is that the title, catchy as it may be, gives away a plot development that occurs late into the movie, robbing it off its surprise factor. **1/2 out of 4.

Goodbye to Farrell

[Michael_Elliott · 12 May 2013]

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.

My most humble apologies John I underestimated your stupidity!

[sol-kay · 6/10 · 20 April 2009]

**SPOILERS** With her hard hitting articles on city corruption hitting their mark newspaper reporter Torchy Blane, Glenda Farrell, soon gets a bit ahead of herself in bugging mobster Doc Dolan's, John Mijan, office. Dolan is behind Mayor John Saunder's re-election campaign whom he, and his mob, controls like a puppet on a string. But Without a court order, which she doesn't have, Torchy's evidence against Dolan would be thrown out of court before it ever reached the light of day.

We have Torchy get her hands on Dolan's "Little Red", or political payoff, book that has him use all his influence-by withdrawing advertisement to the newspaper that she works for-to have Torchy canned from her job as the papers star ace reporter. Not scared off at all by Dolan's tactics Torchy gets a job at a rival paper and continues her attacks, in print, on both Dolan and his stooge in City Hall Mayor Saunders. With the articles by Torchy hitting home the paper's-The Blotter- editor Hurbert Ward,Irving Bacon, is drafted by the people to run against Mayor Saunders in the upcoming city elections. This leads to Ward getting whacked by one of Dolan's hoods Spuds O'Brian, Joe Downing, and made to look like he was the victim of a love triangle gone wrong.

With no one in city politics willing to run against Mayor Saunders and take on the Dolan Mob who's backing him It's then that Torchy on the advice-or practical joke-of her fiancée Det. Steve McBride, Barton MacLane, decides to run for mayor herself! This opens a whole new can of worms for Torchy in that she now has the full force of the Doc Dolan political machine bearing down on her. Something that the plucky and fast talking Torchy Blane seemed to have been totally unprepared for!

The last of the Glenda Farrell Torchy Blane films and one of her best. It's also the film where Torchy and her long suffering boyfriend, in having to put up with her zany antics, Det. McBride finally tied the knot. But only after McBride together with his partner, police Irish Poet, Gahagan, Tom Kennedy, find out where the Dolan gang hid Torchy after they drugged and kidnapped her. With both McBride & Gahagan together with about a half dozen policemen coming to Torchy's rescue Dolan slipped out the back making his escape in Gahagan's police car.***SPOILER*** If Doc Dolan only knew what his gang, without them telling him, had done to Gahagan's car he may well have gotten away. The fact that they didn't had Dolan press the wrong button, or car floorboard, which instantly turned him into a blob of highway roadkill!

I'm gonna crack through with a story so hot that old . . . Skinner can't turn it down!

[boscofl · 8/10 · 16 June 2020]

After running the Torchy Blane franchise into the ground with their previous 2 efforts Warner Brothers made a swell rebound with Torchy Runs For Mayor (1939). The movie boasts a solid script that puts Torchy front and center again as she attempts to rid her city of corruption. Unfortunately, and perhaps as a sign of the times, the movie hedges it's bets by derailing her mission and resorting to the tired tactic of putting her in a dangerous situation that requires rescue by the men, specifically Steve McBride & Gahagan. Still, it's a good ride for nearly 50 minutes until that point and Director Ray McCarey manages to squeeze both suspense and thrills out of the familiar climax.

Screaming headlines announce that Torchy is after the corrupt Doctor Dolan who runs the Mayor and everything else. The narrative is well constructed as she and Dolan engage in a chess match for the soul of the city. Neither will give in as they strive to outwit each other; often employing nefarious and manipulative means to do so. Torchy herself is not above bugging the Mayor's office to acquire incriminating dope or inveigling dupes to do her bidding which results in some dire consequences. Of course Dolan is terribly corrupt and even resorts to murder to win the game so Torchy's comparatively benign actions seem justified. Her ultimate trump card is to run for mayor and this propels the tale to its conclusion.

Glenda Farrell provides her final headline as Torchy Blane and thankfully the script permits her to go out in style. Her enthusiasm, wit, and intrepidness are on full display as she seeks to make her city a fit place to raise babies. No one ever embodied a feisty, truth-seeking heroine quite like Miss Farrell and all who followed in her wake owe her a tremendous debt of gratitude.

Barton MacLane contributes his usual solid performance as Steve McBride and is allowed to run a gamut of emotions which add a lot to the character. He demonstrates cleverness and diplomacy but particularly shines in the moments where he knows Torchy is in danger and subjugates everything else to find her. There is a scene of standard 30s machismo when he scoffs at the idea of Torchy running the city as mayor while he sits at home peeling potatoes but MacLane plays it so well it comes off as funny rather than chauvinistic.

To the benefit of the story Tom Kennedy's role as the numbskull Gahagan is reduced and he has minimal opportunities to perform his schtick. However, he does contribute more to the plot and Kennedy gives what is perhaps his best, most well-rounded performance in the role. Frank Shannon returns with more screen time than usual as Captain McTavish while George Guhl, Joe Cunningham, and Jimmy Conlin appear briefly in their familiar roles of Desk Sergeant Graves, Maxie, and the Coroner, respectively. Meanwhile, unofficial series regulars John Harron and John Ridgely make appearances, too.

After Glenda Farrell acting honors go to John Miljan as Doctor Dolan. Miljan delivers a slick performance as the puppeteer behind the mayor and demonstrates a keen mind more than capable of battling Torchy Blane. Familiar Warner Brothers character actor Joe Downing enacts Spuds O'Brien, Dolan's right hand man, and demonstrates his talent for exhibiting both menace and comedy. Unlike his usual one note, grimacing gangster characters he, too, is pretty clever and resourceful. It is amazing how much a film like this can benefit from such well written and enacted adversaries.

The ending of the film, wherein Torchy wins her bid for Mayor but immediately abdicates when confronted by a cooing infant, would have made for a wonderful conclusion to the run. She had already been fired from her newspaper while Steve had quit the police force so he could chase after a missing Torchy without being encumbered by his badge. Indeed, they rush off together and one could happily assume they'll acquire yet another marriage license and finally become spliced. Unfortunately, the studio would find it necessary to produce one more Torchy Blane adventure featuring an almost entirely new cast and coffin nails for the series.

Torchy story gets stale

[ksf-2 · 6/10 · 9 December 2018]

Near the end of the series, Glenda Farrell is "Torchy", a reporter for the local paper, hot on the trail of ciminals doing bad things in town. In this one, she's after Dr. Nolan, ( John Miljan) , who seems to be running things. Co-stars Barton MacLane and Tom Kennedy, as usual. Charles Richman is Mayor Saunders, on the take. Torchy never seems to get caught getting evidence on the sly, but it always works out for her. Directed by Ray McCarey, brother of famed Leo McCarey. Appears to have committed suicide at 44, according to Wikipedia. org

Final Glenda Farrell Torchy Blane Movie

[Jim Tritten · 5/10 · 30 June 2004]

Final Glenda Farrell Torchy Blane comedy newspaper crime drama. Torchy, a hotshot newspaper reporter, illegally gathers evidence proving corruption on the part of the city Mayor and the real power behind the city administration -- Dr. Jeff Dolan. Dirty city politics and the fear of honest citizens of power reflect the times.

Glenda Farrell as Torchy is both annoying and an interesting feminine hero. She is a fast-talking, hard-boiled, strong woman lead -- which is what is needed to carry off the theme of the outsider who helps the police. Torchy's long-suffering fiancé, Detective Lieutenant Steve McBride (Barton MacLane), alternates between depending upon and rescuing Torchy. Actually Farrell and MacLane are a good team. Sidekick police officer Gahagan (Tom Kennedy) is in the mold of many other detective sidekicks of the era. As in most stores of this type, the police cannot succeed without the intervention of the amateur detective. John Miljan plays the part of Dolan most believably.

In the end, Torchy is tricked into running for Mayor, wins the election, but at the sight of a baby at a press conference, opts for marriage and a home rather than a career. That ending played much better in 1939 than it would today.

Final Torchy With Glenda

[hogwrassler · 8/10 · 4 December 2021]

I watched TRFM on TCM this Saturday morning. It's the last Torchy film with Glenda Farrell and Barton McLane. Warner Brothers made one more, with Jane Wyman and Allen Jenkins in the leading roles.

TRFM has a pretty wild plot, with an unscrupulous criminal boss/medical doctor named Dolan suddenly taking over the city. He controls the mayor and other key city officials, including the police commissioner. Torchy wages a one woman war against him. She commits a few felonies to get the goods on him, including illegally bugging the mayor's office, breaking into Dolan's house, and stealing a red notebook with key evidence inside it. When the newspapers refuse to print her sensational stories, she quits her reporter job and tries to convince someone to run against the crooked mayor. Steve secretly submits her name as a candidate. So, as the title says, Torchy runs for mayor. Dolan has Torchy drugged and kidnapped. Steve gets frustrated and resigns from the police force so that he won't be constrained by any rules in his search for Torchy. Gahagan goes along with him. But can they find Torchy in time?

If you can get past the implausible plot situations, this is an enjoyable last offering for Glenda and Barton. It's fast paced, with good action. But Gahagan's character is really in the background and his comic relief lessened. The ending seems to indicate that the series is ending or that it's taking a new turn. But the final Torchy movie with Jane Wyman continues on the original storyline as though the ending in TRFM never happened. Only in Hollywood.

A clairvoyant movie studio warns America of a day . . .

[oscaralbert · 6/10 · 14 November 2018]

. . . when government leaders will be allowed to declare that the Free Press mandated by the U.S. Constitution is an "Enemy of the People," just as the Evil Dictators of the Third Reich, Red Commie Russia, the Laotian Killing Fields, terrorist-riddled Saudi Arabia, and Tibet-swallowing Red China have done in the total absence of the U.S. Constitution. The always eponymous Warner Bros. warn We Americans of (The Then) Far Future in TORCHY RUNS FOR MAYOR about a demonic city in which reporters are threatened, fired, tortured, and killed on the slightest whim of the Ruling Class. Warner warns us that the crime syndicate that will some day take over the U.S. government is the REAL "Enemy of the People" during TORCHY RUNS FOR MAYOR. With Mayor, Warner's seers forecast America's step-by-step descent down the Road to Perdition, as bully boy Crime Lord "Dr. Dolan" calls ALL the shots in the World of Torchy. He dismisses her exposes as "fake news," and gets her canned, just as Today's White House is able to fire TV reporters. Dolan has "Editor Ward" first roughed up, then killed, just as Today's Oval Office Occupant eggs on his Pachyderm Party Henchmen to body slam reporters and enables his Saudi business buddies to chop up journalists for dinner. With MAYOR, Warner Bros. warns us that we should not ask for whom the bell tolls while Journalism is being strangled: "In the silence of the night, we should shiver with affright," as our final drop of Freedom is wrung out.

Entertaining but talk about a contrived plot!! I think it was written by lemurs!

[planktonrules · 4/10 · 2 July 2009]

The city where Torchy works apparently is run by a corrupt mayor. So naturally, she does exactly what any good reporter would do in this situation--she has the Mayor's office bugged AND breaks into his office and steals an incriminating red notebook! No, wait a moment,...this would involve committing multiple felonies and possibly result in 57023 years in prison, so I guess this isn't such a brilliant plan. But, considering it's Torchy doing it and she's the hero of this series, it's safe to assume the film will NOT end with her being sent to prison! Oh, and is there ANY criminal stupid enough to leave a little red (or black or blue) book sitting around with a list of payoffs and other illegal activities?!

Apparently the editors of the major papers DON'T want to base an exposée by Torchy on illegally obtained information (go figure), so she finds a tiny little paper and convinces the sap the runs it to risk his life and livelihood to run these articles. But, when her one-woman campaign against corruption begins, it spells trouble for the newspaper man and the other guy running for mayor in the recall election. So it's up to Torchy to run for mayor herself! And during all this campaigning, she promises to convict the Mayor and his cohorts! Apparently, in addition to writing articles and running for mayor, Torchy also wants to be the district attorney and judge!! Wow, talk about an amazingly contrived plot!

It's obvious from the start that the folks at Warner Brothers were running out of ideas when they come up with such ridiculous plot devices. It's not too surprising, then, that this was the last film of the series to star Glenda Farrell and Barton MacLane in the leads. Perhaps the studio had Jane Wyman and Allen Jenkins star in the next film because it was an attempt to put some energy into the series or Farrell and MacLane were just sick of the films and saw no future in them. Regardless, this film is sort of like the beginning of the end for the franchise.

Despite this totally insane plot, the film (like the rest of the series) is quite enjoyable. My advice is to just turn off your brain and enjoy. But be careful! If you think too much about what's going on, your brain might just explode! I know this is true because I read about it on the internet!