This is an odd little film whose off-beat humour goes a considerable way -- although not really quite far enough -- to excuse dodgy dialogue, perfunctory plotting and some very laborious line readings from the cast, from the big names down to the bit-part players. Richard Arlen, in particular, gives a fine performance... in those scenes alone where he can rely on silent-screen acting technique and isn't required to deliver any spoken lines, which unfortunately isn't very many of them! Fay Wray isn't terribly convincing here either in her role as hard-as-nails gangster's girl or as lovely and vulnerable sweetheart, and the film as a whole seems to veer unevenly between spoof and taking itself seriously. As a result, I found it hard to care very much about the fate of any of the characters, in particular the romantic leads. George Bancroft pretty much carries the picture single-handed as the eponymous gangster (he was Oscar-nominated for this role), with some success; but again he seems to be uncertain whether to play for straight-out melodrama or hammy spoof, and to be struggling with the transition to sound.
The director's real interest appears to be in the Death Row scenes, where much of the humour occurs (there is a running gag where the other convicts comment on the action with close-harmony renditions of appropriate popular songs), and much of the rest of the film is merely a set-up to get to this point. (The bank robbery sequence is particularly perfunctory and confusing: frankly, if the charge hadn't been spelt out subsequently in dialogue, I wouldn't have had the faintest idea what Bob was actually condemned for.)
It is worth persevering with "Thunderbolt" beyond the opening sequences, which are particularly laboured -- the film does get a bit better later on -- but this is nobody's lost masterpiece, I'm afraid. To see Richard Arlen do better, try "Beggars of Life"; to see Fay Wray, try "The Most Dangerous Game"; to see George Bancroft, try "Underworld". To see a better early talkie, try Rouben Mamoulian's "Applause" (1929).
The director's real interest appears to be in the Death Row scenes, where much of the humour occurs (there is a running gag where the other convicts comment on the action with close-harmony renditions of appropriate popular songs), and much of the rest of the film is merely a set-up to get to this point. (The bank robbery sequence is particularly perfunctory and confusing: frankly, if the charge hadn't been spelt out subsequently in dialogue, I wouldn't have had the faintest idea what Bob was actually condemned for.)
It is worth persevering with "Thunderbolt" beyond the opening sequences, which are particularly laboured -- the film does get a bit better later on -- but this is nobody's lost masterpiece, I'm afraid. To see Richard Arlen do better, try "Beggars of Life"; to see Fay Wray, try "The Most Dangerous Game"; to see George Bancroft, try "Underworld". To see a better early talkie, try Rouben Mamoulian's "Applause" (1929).