Tornado
Cast & Crew
William Berke
Chester Morris
Nancy Kelly
Bill Henry
Gwen Kenyon
Joe Sawyer
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
On 6 July 1939, in the mining town of Linden, Illinois, a devastating tornado strikes, leaving mine owner Linden's house untouched, but destroying neighboring mine owner Pete Ramsey's brand new house. Pete reflects on the fact that, only a year earlier, he was a common miner, like the rest of the locals: Pete falls in love with nightclub singer Victory Kane, who has dreams of a being a glamorous socialite. When Pete's younger brother Bob brings his friend, Sally Vlochek, into the Linden mine, she is blinded in an accidental explosion, and her father, Big Joe, vows to kill the man who brought her in. Linden promotes Pete because his quick action saved the mine, although several miners were injured, including Charlie Boswell. When Pete and Victory become engaged, she urges him to work harder to attain her dream that he will be a "coal baron." Pete soon becomes a slave driver, earning Big Joe's enmity and causing the death of his friend Charlie, who had been crippled in the mine explosion and then commits suicide after Pete demotes him for slowing production. After another promotion, Pete finds coal on the property that Charlie fondly left to Victory, and opens his own mine. Linden's son Gary hires Big Joe to sabotage Pete's mine in order to save himself from bankruptcy, after leading Big Joe to believe that Pete was responsible for Sally's accident. Sally's vision has been restored, however, and Pete hires her as his secretary. Victory, who is now Pete's wife and wants to rise in society, starts to see Gary. As Big Joe pretends to join up with Pete, Bob soon quits because Pete has become unreasonable and will not listen to his cautions about Victory. Two men are killed after Big Joe causes an explosion in the mine, and the fire shuts down the mine after it burns for seven weeks. When Victory ruins Pete's chances at fiscal recovery by drunkenly accusing him of having an affair with Sally in front of a potential backer, Sally urges Linden to help Pete. Linden offers a loan, and Pete reopens the mine and rehires Bob, while Victory oversees the construction of their elaborate new house. Gary sends Big Joe to sabotage the mine again, but this time sends another man, Frankie, to make sure the job is done. Haunted by the deaths of his friends in the last incident, Big Joe is unable to complete the job. When Frankie takes over, the explosion causes a cave-in that traps Pete, Bob and Big Joe. Then, in the midst of a vengeful attack on Pete, Big Joe collapses because he has no medication. Before he dies, Big Joe confesses to his crimes and to Gary's involvement. Victory, meanwhile, is hosting a housewarming party for her new socialite friends. After being freed from the cave-in, Pete returns from the mine and finds Gary and Victory in a passionate embrace. After a violent fight with Gary, Pete throws him out of his house. A tornado starts shortly thereafter, and Victory and Gary are killed by a falling branch, while the new house is destroyed. Now freed from the past, Sally and Pete, who have always loved each other start a new life together.
Director
William Berke
Cast
Chester Morris
Nancy Kelly
Bill Henry
Gwen Kenyon
Joe Sawyer
Marie Mcdonald
Morgan Conway
Nestor Paiva
Moi-yo
Constance Stone
Crew
Howard Anderson
Ben Berk
Ralph Freed
Frederick Hollander
Fred Jackman Jr.
Frank Loesser
William H. Lynch
Doc Merman
Edward Mull
William H. Pine
Freddie Rich
Maxwell Shane
F. Paul Sylos
William C. Thomas
Alex Widlicska
William Ziegler
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Black Tornado. Although onscreen credits state that the picture was based on "the novel by John Guedel," no information about this source has been found. According to a Los Angeles Examiner new item, Sylvia Sidney was at one time cast as "Victory Kane" in this film. This picture marks the American feature film debuts of Moi-Yo and Connie Stone. According to a Hollywood Reporter news item, 1939 newsreel footage of an actual tornado in Texas was used in the film, and some of the special effects were shot at the Fine Arts Studio.
