"Taming the Wild" is a brisk little adventure, allowing us to go along on the wild ride a rich, privileged heiress ends up taking through the world of gangsterdom, as she tries to proclaim some resistance from accepting what we would assume to be a structured and possibly stuffy life awaiting her after coming totally of age. After all is said and done we and she find that the people who have mattered to her most through life are actually not so bad, and neither are some of her new-found acquaintances gathered during her adventure. Yes, this is another Depression-era "the rich aren't so bad" story. It is done with an array of fun characterizations, including the saucy presence of Barbara Pepper as the nightclub singer who befriends our heiress, and the heiress herself, the very spirited and ready-for-some-limits-testing Maxine Doyle. The dialog and repartee' are often staged well, but the editing seems to have been done under time pressure.
There is a coursing of comedy that runs through the program, but things never get to a pace or level that could be termed madcap. Maxine Doyle was a charming and energetic actress and is fun to watch; I always wondered if perhaps it was her name, which sounds more like the name of a part in a B-movie than a modern marquee name of an actress, that hindered her from becoming more well-known in A- pictures. Both Doyle and Pepper had marvelously expressive eyes and they don't disappoint in this one. Adding to the pleasure this film provides are the many street and curbside scenes which afford viewing of numerous magnificent cars from the 1930's, propelling the viewer back into another time. In summation, if you find imaginative the opening scene at the train station where two pairs of well-heeled shoes are talking to each other, you will likely enjoy sticking around for the rest of the film.