I don't think Edward G Robinson was ever in a really bad movie, or that he ever gave a bad performance. But, "Thunder in the City" had a lukewarm outing with critics and moviegoers. It finished the year way down on the box office list - 141st. The film was made in England, and the story opens in the U. S. and soon goes to Great Britain.
The film is billed as a comedy, crime and drama. The plot probably confused many people who couldn't see the crime in the film. I watched the film before reading that it was also a crime film, and I wondered at the light and off-handed humorous treatment of creating a corporation and selling shares in something that Robinson's Dan Armstrong knew nothing about, and had no concrete plans for how to turn it into a money-maker. Well, that turns out to the crime aspect of this plot.
But, even otherwise, audiences might be confused with the story. Here's a top salesman, an energetic go-getter, and a nice guy - Dan Armstrong. He's decent to everyday people, as witnessed by his passing the hat for Edna and Bill, the street musicians, and then inviting them to his hotel for lunch. But, on the other hand, he thinks salesmanship is the god of life - the purpose of life above all else. He had no scruples about promoting the Snyderling automobile, which he later tells his distant cousin, James, "is a phony."
The confusion is apparent in the character himself. And, I suspect that that was the intention in the character as written - and played by Robinson. Here was a guy with a lot of energy, willing to sell, a friend of the people, but if the product he sells isn't very good, it doesn't matter. So, it turns out that this is a sort of morality tale, and a clear satire about advertising and promoting sales.
The story is interesting and most amusing when Dan gets to England and meets his distant cousins and their friends. The exaggeration about advertising to sell products is absurd in both the U. S. and England when Dan hires blimps to fly over the cities, dropping pamphlets, floating banners and with trapeze artists swinging below them. If one could find that many blimps in existence, a single event like that would likely cost more than an entire advertising budget for a year or more. But, that type of exaggeration in the plot heightens the satire. Then, at his talk to his new young sales force, Dan has a large chart with a man's head from the side view, and sections of the brain labeled: Escape Mechanism, Sales Resistance, Curiosity, Romance, and Greed.
Well, the story becomes somewhat of a fantasy, as well as a battle of wits between Dan and Henry Manningdale. Ralph Richardson plays him, supposedly the wealthiest financier in England. He's also the man whom Lady Patricia is close to marrying - for money, of course, to help bail out her parents, The Duke and Duchess. That makes it a double contest because Dan also has his eyes set on Patricia. Nigel Bruce and Constance Collier do very well in the roles of Duke and Duchess. And Lady Patricia is the first appearance in English films of German actress Luli Deste. She does well in this role, but didn't click when she went to Hollywood, so after a few more films she quit acting in 1941.
As couched satire and subtle morality tale, "Thunder in the City" is quite good. But as outright comedy, and a crime and drama, some may not think it to be that good. Here are some of the better lines in this film.
Snyderling, "It's undignified." Dan Armstrong, "Well, certainly it is. But what's dignity got to do with salesmanship?"
Dan Armstrong, "From the looks of your faces, I can see that this is somebody's funeral. What I wanna know is, am I the corpse?"
Snyderling, "It was overselling that brought on the depression that nearly ruined America, and I'm not going to let it ruin Snyderling. What was the first country to come out of the depression? England! Why? Dignity! We should learn that from England. And you should learn it to."
Dan Armstrong, "Say, I've got relations there. My grandfather was the black sheep of one of England's best families. Maybe they can tach me how to sell automatic egg-beaters."
Dan Armstrong, discussing his grandfather with his English relatives, "Well, he certainly had a great career in the U. S. A." Lady Challoner, "Oh, what did he do?" Armstrong, "He investigated jails." Lady Challoner, "Oh!" Armstrong, "That is, as an inmate. It was his ambition to serve time in every state of the union. But he died before he got to South Dakota."
James Challoner, "I'm trying to play the family to get rid of our old Rolls and buy one of your Snyderling Straight A's - oh, it's a lovely car." Dan Armstrong, "Oh, don't you believe it. It's a phony. All snappy lines, but no endurance. You stick to your Rolls."
Dan Armstrong, "Twenty generations? Boy, that's an awful lot of time. You know, over in New York we begin to get restless after we've been in an apartment as long as two weeks."
Dan Armstrong, "Hey, uh, where's the bathroom?" Jenkins, "Up two flights of stairs, sir. Through the armory to the West wing, bear left, and at the farthest end of the long corridor, sir." Armstrong, "Very convenient." Jenkins, 'Uh, yes, sir." Armstrong, "You think I can make the bathroom and shave in one day?" Jenkins, "Well, why, why of course, sir."
Dan Armstrong, "Tell me, Duke, is she gonna marry that fellow, Manningdale?" The Duchess, "If she knows what's good for her, she will." Armstrong, "But does she know what's good for her?" The Duchess, "Heh, heh." The Duke, "No." Armstrong, "Oh, that's fine."
