History Film / HeatLightning

''Heat Lightning'' (1934) is a [[UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra pre-Code drama]] directed by Mervyn [=LeRoy=]. This film has the distinction of being one of the last films to slip by before UsefulNotes/TheHaysCode crackdown and has some very feminist overtones.

''Heat Lightning'' (1934) is a [[UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra pre-Code drama]] directed by Mervyn [=LeRoy=]. This film has the distinction of being one of the last films to slip by before UsefuleNotes/TheHaysCode crackdown and has some very feminist overtones.

* ThoseTwoBadGuys: Happens mostly in the beginning with Gerry and Jeff.

* DoesntTrustThoseGuys: Olga lets a Mexican family stay outside during the night since they can’t pay for one of her shacks. Mrs. Ashton tells Olga that she doesn’t trust the Mexican family and wants her jewels somewhere safe. In the film, Ashton as nonsensical and bigoted for this action.

[[caption-width-right:268: The WrenchWench tries to fight off the BadBoy.]]

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Deconstructed: Myra wants to go to a dance with Steve who ends up abusing her. Olga, on the other hand, refuses Gerry's advances but then falls for him once more only to be used by him. [[spoiler: She promptly shoots him dead]].

* BelligerentSexualTension: There’s heavy doses of it between Olga and Gerry, but it’s never PlayedForLaughs in any shape or form.

* TomboyAndGirlyGirl: Olga is the traditional tomboy while Myra where’s dresses and lipstick and all the other traditionally girly things.

* AllGirlsWantBadBoys: Deconstructed: Myra wants to go to a dance with Steve who ends up abusing her. Olga, on the other hand, refuses Gerry's advances but then falls for him once more only to be used by him. [[spoiler: Until she shoots him dead]].
* BigBrotherInstinct: Olga has a tendency to scare off any man that comes near Myra, but it turns out the Myra and Olga both have very bad taste in men, so Olga’s instinct isn’t without foundations.
* BelligerentSexualTension: There’s heavy doses of it between Olga and Gerry, but it’s never PlayedForLaughs.
* CoincidentalBroadcast: Gerry just happens to turn on the radio to hear a broadcast of the police apprehending the wrong man for his crime.
* DoesntTrustThoseGuys: Olga lets a Mexican family stay the night outside since they can’t pay for one of her shacks. Mrs. Ashton then tells Olga that she doesn’t trust those Mexicans and wants to be her jewels somewhere safe. In the film, this is treated as Ashton being extremely racist and stupid when she can’t see who the real thieves are.

* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Gerry seduces Olga to distract her from the jewels, but his plan fails to take into account Olga’s anger at finding this out and the fact that she has a gun. [[spoiler: And kills him at the drop of a hat.]]
* ManipulativeBastard: Gerry seduces the reluctant Olga to get her out of the way.

* SheCleansUpNicely: Continually annoyed by Gerry’s remarks that she’s no longer the girl that she was before, Olga takes off the mechanic garb and puts on some makeup and a dress.

* TriggerHappy: It seems that Gerry didn’t need to kill the clerk in his stick up with Jeff but did it just because he wanted to. And then in the end, Olga just [[spoiler: shots Gerry dead when she finds out he only slept with her to distract her from the jewels that are in the safe]].

The film follows a day in the life of two sisters, Olga (Aline [=MacMahon=]) and Myra (Ann Dvorak). Both work in an auto camp in the middle of the Californian desert. Olga is the older sister who has no problem getting down and dirty with “men’s” work --fixing up cars, being self-reliant, not wearing any dresses—and has seen enough of the world to know that its not all that it’s cracked up to be. Myra, on the other hand, is young and naïve and is dying to be somewhere exciting.

As the desert day gets hotter, two men on the lam from a robbery come in called Gerry (Preston Foster) and Jeff (Lyle Talbott). It turns out Gerry and Olga have a shared past when they used to live in Tulsa: Olga was a cabaret dancer, and Gerry was her abusive boyfriend. Another trio of characters come in to the picture: wealthy divorcees, Mrs. Tifton (Glenda Farrell) and Mrs. Ashton-Ashley (Ruth Donnelly), and their chauffeur, Frank (Frank [=McHugh=]). Throughout the day, Gerry and Olga have some sexual tension while he plans to steal from the wealthy women. Meanwhile, Myra is planning to go out with a man her sister disapproves of and the divorcees have some wacky hijinks with their chauffeur. But at the end of the night, both sisters are disappointed with their choice in men.

* WrenchWench: Olga, for the most part of the film, is dressed up in a mechanics garb and is working away at any local’s car.

* YouAllMeetAtAnInn: All the principal characters find themselves at Olga's auto camp, and the story follows their day there.

''Heat Lightning'' (1934) is a [[UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra pre-Code drama]] directed by Mervyn [=LeRoy=]. This film has the distinction of being one of the last films to slip by before TheHaysCode crackdown and has some very feminist overtones.

''Heat Lightning'' (1934) is a [[UsefulNotes/ThePreCodeEra pre-Code drama]] directed by Mervyn [=LeRoy=]. This film has the distinction of being one of the last films to slip through heavy censorship before TheHaysCode crackdown and has some very feminist overtones.

The film follows a day in the life of two sisters, Olga (Aline [=MacMahon=]) and Myra (Ann Dvorak). Both work in an auto camp in the middle of the Californian desert. Olga is the older sister who has no problem getting down and dirty with “men’s” work --fixing up cars, being self-reliant, not wearing any dresses—and has seen enough of the world to know that its not all that it’s cracked up to be. Myra, on the other hand, is young and naïve and is dying to be somewhere exciting. As the desert day gets hotter, two men on the lam from a robbery come in called Gerry (Preston Foster) and Jeff (Lyle Talbott). It turns out Gerry and Olga have a shared past when they used to live in Tulsa: Olga was a cabaret dancer, and Gerry was her abusive boyfriend. Another trio of characters come in to the picture: wealthy divorcees, Mrs. Tifton (Glenda Farrell) and Mrs. Ashton-Ashley (Ruth Donnelly), and their chauffeur, Frank (Frank McHugh). Throughout the day, Gerry and Olga have some sexual tension while he plans to steal from the wealthy women. Meanwhile, Myra is planning to go out with a man her sister disapproves of and the divorcees have some wacky hijinks with their chauffeur. But at the end of the night, both sisters are disappointed with their choice in men.

''Heat Lightning'' (1934) is a pre-Code drama directed by Mervyn [=LeRoy=]. This film has the distinction of being one of the last films to slip through heavy censorship before TheHaysCode crackdown and has some very feminist overtones.