Synopsis
WARNING TO CROOKS...DON'T FOOL WITH THE U. S. MAIL!
Investigators set out to capture a gang of thieves transporting stolen cash through the U.S. mail.
Wanted: Jane Turner
Cast
Lee Tracy Gloria Stuart Ann Shepherd John McGuire Frank M. Thomas Paul Guilfoyle Irene Franklin Patricia Wilder Barbara Pepper Willard Robertson Alexander Cross Jay Eaton Dick Elliott Dot Farley Paul Fix Bess Flowers Duke Green Jane Hamilton Selmer Jackson Thomas E. Jackson Lew Kelly Lee Kohlmar Paul Kruger Mike Lally George Lloyd Arthur Loft George Magrill Bert Moorhouse Margaret Morris Show All…
Director
Producer
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Releases by Date
Theatrical
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USANR
Releases by Country
USA
04 Dec 1936
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Popular reviews
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One of the joys of TCM is stumbling upon a film I’ve never heard of and discovering unexpected joys. Wanted: Jane Turner is an RKO B-movie but has several elements to make it stand out as a crime film with comic touches.
Phil Crowley (Paul Guilfoyle) and his gang rob mail trucks in New York and then, wouldn’t you know it, mail the loot to general delivery in Los Angeles. If only UPS or FedEx had existed, he would have gotten away with his crimes. Postal employees Tom Mallory (Lee Tracy) and Doris Martin (Gloria Stuart) are flown to LA to intercept a piece of mail and track down Crowley and his cohorts. Along the way, the two engage in…
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An enjoyable B crime flick from RKO. Lee Tracy is quite likable and less frenzied than in other films I've seen him in. And we get a few scenes with the wonderful, brassy Barbara Pepper too.
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Nothing particularly noteworthy, other than some shots on the streets of Los Angeles in 1936. But it is an enjoyable, brief crime caper with good performances from the leads.
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From RKO comes another mystery/crime drama directed by Edward Killy and stars Lee Tracy & that lady from Titanic, Gloria Stewart.
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Fun crime programmer--- Lee and Gloria have chemistry to spare. Stuart's part gives more opportunity for feistiness than she usually got, blending nicely with Tracy's patented guy-who-knows-all-the-angles. Great hard-boiled moments too from the undervalued Barbara Pepper and the forgotten Irene Franklin.
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These 1930s B programmers sure had an efficient and effective style. The opening montage packs a hefty amount of exposition into less than a minute, and the first scene conveys a wealth of character detail before a single line of dialogue is uttered. The rest of the film is brisk fun too, with a whole lot of action and comedy crammed into just over an hour. Too bad they don't make them like this anymore.
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Fun little crime drama from RKO, starring Lee Tracy and Gloria Stuart as U.S. postal inspectors tasked with tracking down a gang that robbed a mail truck and killed its driver. This was Tracy’s first film under contract to RKO, which gave him a temporary home in “b” pictures after he was fired from Viva Villa! and fell out of favor with most of the Hollywood studios. As I’ve noted before regarding some of his other RKO films, he was simply less fun to watch after the Production Code began to be enforced. He’s serviceable in the lead, but don’t expect the fast-talking steamroller character of his earlier films.
The film is mainly interesting for including several digressive vignettes, including…
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Can't believe Hollywood actually made TWO postal inspector movies in 1936?! Postal Inspector (1936) was lame as could be. At least Wanted! Jane Turner (1936) had some deliberate comedy along with the postal inspectors actually getting in on the action, not just let the other departments take care of business while using the entire film to try and convince that being a postal Inspector is not as boring as is sounds like they did in Postal Inspector (1936). You know Lee Tracy & Gloria Stuart will do their best to liven things up, and they did, without this being anything one need to go out of ones way to see. The subject just isn't made out to become anything amazing on screen.
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Lee and Gloria make a good pair, good for them, but give them more money instead of RKO B-money.
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gloria stuart was great as always too bad she wasn’t in this nearly enough and this movie was very boring
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The mystery relies too much on coincidences and I don't buy into the out-of-nowhere 'romance' between Stuart and Tracy, but Stuart's character is brave, smart, and awesome and brave. I said 'brave' twice, because holy cow. Would watch a whole series of movies about Doris Martin, Postal Detective.
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Gloria Stuart shooting Paul Guilfoyle was a great moment I didn't expect would happen in this movie.