High Powered (1945) User Reviews (6)

Good effort vs. low budget in enjoyable action drama

[csteidler · 6/10 · 30 May 2012]

Phyllis Brooks (leading lady) and Mary Treen (sidekick) are heading west, pulling a lunch wagon behind their car. Their goal: set up in business at the big new construction site. They pick up hitchhiker Robert Lowery, heading west himself to take a job—as a grape picker? Why not work on the big building project? –It's quickly established that although Lowery used to be one of the best "high men" in the construction business, he has no interest in returning to that field.

Lowery's fear of heights—the result of an accident that wasn't his fault—is the main story line here. Needless to say, he winds up on the job at the building site, in a position that will keep him on the ground…for the time being.

The girls' efforts to get their business up and running is one subplot; another is the relationship that slowly but predictably builds between Brooks and Lowery. Joe Sawyer is also on hand as a fellow worker, reliable as always for some solid laughs. The various plot threads rarely surprise but do hold together okay.

Footage from genuine construction sites adds a realistic look to numerous scenes; unfortunately, there are also plenty of rear projection shots, some rather weakly done—two guys walking in place in front of a screen showing some construction machinery is tough to pull off convincingly. Overall, though, the acting is energetic and the script quite strong: the producers here clearly spent their efforts on performances rather than special effects, and that's okay.

Adventure, comic relief, a bit of patriotism...and it all builds to a truly exciting climax. Quite familiar—but pretty good!

High powered with wisecracks and thrills.

[mark.waltz · 6/10 · 27 August 2016]

"Throw your bag in the rumble and take a tumble." So says wise-cracking Mary Treen, the man crazy pal of Phyllis Brooks in this high powered comedy/drama about life in the world of the electric company. Brooks and Treen run a hamburger stand near the plant, and having shared an adventure with handsome Robert Lowery and their runaway trailer (with the two ladies on board), romance ensues between Brooks and Lowery with the rough and tumble Joe Sawyer taking a shine to Treen, who reminds him of his ex-wife. It turns out that Lowery is afraid of heights which opens the potential for disaster on the electrical towers that he works on.

"On a clear day, you can see San Francisco bay", foreman Vince Barnett tells Lowery before he makes his fateful climb. This shows the dangers these workers face on a daily basis, documenting all sorts of potential disasters. It's all fascinating and well acted. Treen gets the best lines, dropping them with the oomph of Mary Wickes whom she is definitely a younger version of. "It's the first time I've seen an upside down cake that talks", Brooks tells her after the incident in the trailer. There's plenty more wisecracks abound as the screenplay never slows down. The Pine- Thomas unit at Paramount was a mixed bag, and I must refer to this one as one of their best.

Pine Thomas Adventure film

[nova-63 · 5/10 · 12 August 2012]

Lowery plays Tim Scott, a man running from his past. Previously, he was working as a "high man" when an accident occurred resulting in a terrible fall and the death of a co-worker. Now Lowery drifts from small job to small job. By chance he meets two women (Phyllis Brooks & Mary Treen) who are setting up a lunch bar at a big building project. The three have a minor brush with the law which results in all of them spending the night behind bars. All three are rescued from the hoosegow by Lowery's former boss (Roger Pryor), who just happens to be a foreman on the building project where Brooks & Treen are setting up their business.

Pryor convinces Lowery to return to work for him, but not at his old job, this time working on the ground. The rest of the film deals with the romance between Lowery and Brooks, and Lowery facing his demons and returning to his old job as a "high man".

If you have watched and enjoyed other Pine Thomas films, I'm sure this one will be no different. It's a little slow in spots. The romantic subplot wasn't interesting to me and took up far too much time. Typical for the Pine Thomas films is that they lack a little flare and zest. And although there is actually location shooting this film has a ton of rear screen projection shots. In fact it may set some sort of record for rear screen projection shots used.

Ultimately, a fine cast has trouble overcoming a so-so script and low production values.

Afraid of heights

[bkoganbing · 4/10 · 14 March 2018]

Phyllis Brooks and Mary Treen who run a lunch wagon and travel to various construction sites pickup hitchhiker Robert Lowery on the way to a site where an oil refinery is being built. At least they're going there. But after a vehicular incident involving sheriff Ralph Sanford all three get bailed out by boss Roger Pryor who knows Lowery was a good worker on heights and wants him back.

But Lowery is through with that after a fall left him gun shy of heights. Still Pryor gets him another kind of job on the heights. If you don't know where this is going you haven't seen too many of these films.

Comic relief is provided by Treen and fellow construction worker Joe Sawyer who is constantly telling Treen how he reminds him of his ex-wife. To the point of annoyance that is, her's and the audience.

High Powered has a low budget and production values not really up to the Pine-Thomas standards at Paramount. Bill Pine and Bill Thomas usually had better quality Bs. It also looked like it was either butchered in the editing department or this version is one cut down for television.

I doubt we'll see a director's cut.

Third-rate

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 5 October 2016]

This film is from the tiny production company Pine-Thomas. Considering their tiny budgets and quick turnover, you certainly WON'T mix this up with a decent film from one of the bigger studios! To but it bluntly, it's a third-rate film. "High Powered" is a very familiar sort of film. The big studios made decent films such as "Slim" and "Manpower" with very, very similar themes....and in this case Pine-Thomas manages to copy them but do worse in every possible way!.

The story begins with a kooky scene where two annoying women pick up a hitchhiker. The ladies are on their way with their lunch wagon to work at a construction site...and the guy is intend on getting a job as a fruit picker. However, after the super-annoying kooky scene ends, the boss of the construction job, Rod (Roger Pryor) comes to make everything right--and he discovers the hitchhiker is none other than Tim Scott (Robert Lowery). Tim is an expert who could really help Rod on his job site--but would rather pick fruit which would earn him far less. Why? Well, it turns out that Tim had a bad accident while working way, way up high and he's afraid to return to that sort of work...and Rod is intent on helping his old friend get over his fears. But, when a girl comes between them, Tim has had enough and is ready to walk off the job when something happens...something EVERYONE in the audience knew was coming and expected it only 10 minutes into the film!

So why did I hate this film so much? Well, it didn't help that the two male leads were dull and uninteresting....but the big problem were the supporting characters. Joe Sawyer and Mary Treen were included as comic relief and EVERYTHING the pair said and did was annoying and you just wanted them to go away forever! It also didn't help that the female love interest had about as much charisma as a rotting banana. I cannot blame this all on the actors....Sawyer, for example, was a decent character actor and showed this in many other films. Here, however, the dialog sounds as if the script was written in an afternoon...something that IS possible since this is such a low-budget B-movie! The director, also, shares much of the blame and the sum total is a very predictable, clichéd and often stupid film.

pretty good shortie from paramount

[ksf-2 · 8/10 · 26 March 2018]

Phyllis Brooks and Mary Treen are two chicks heading to san francisco to set up their lunch counter. Along the way, they stop to pick up hitchhiker Tim (Robert Lowery). They get into a thing with the local sheriff, and work their way out of that. Treen was in the biz for years and years, but Brooks only did a couple more things after this. Keep an eye out for Will Wright as Jeff the foreman. Was in Andy Griffith and a million other bit parts. Anyhoo.. they set up shop at the project site and things are back on track. They appear to be building a petroleum refinery, and the location shows its in Richmond, California... home to many refineries, since it's right on the coast. and its war-time, so everything has to be done double-time for the army. It's all light and fluffy, with a pretty good story behind it. Some ups, some downs. Kind of like an ep of Laverne and Shirley, for those who remember that television show. and of course, all hell breaks loose at the big dance. Also some serious moments when the equipment malfunctions and the men are in great danger. All in all a pretty good story, even if short, at 62 minutes. Written by Milton Raison, who wrote stories, screenplays, and poetry. Directed by William Berke. did a whole lot of B films. died young at 54, but not much info on him out there.