Thunderbolt is a crime thriller-come-proto noir from the late 1920s. The pre-code film blends in elements of romance, revenge, and light touches of humour. With the plot focuses on a wanted career criminal, his moll, and her lover.  Here from Powerhouse is a Blu-ray release of the film- featuring a HD print of the film, and a selection of new & archive extras.

Thunderbolt is from the year 1929. It was directed by Viena-born Josef von Sternberg- who split his childhood between Australia and New York, going on to die in 1969 in LA. Between 1925 and 1969 he had thirty credits to his name. These went from The Masked Bride (1925) a romantic drama regarding a rich American who falls for a French cabaret who in her spare time is a jewel thief. Onto train-based noir/ adventure Shanghai Express (1932), though to stranded on an island WWII set histrionic drama Anatahan (1953). Thunderbolt is a nicely shot and well realized early talkie.
 
The film opens as we see Ritzie (Fay Wray) and Bob Moran (Richard Arlen) meeting for nighttime romantic rendezvous. After they part, she is taken to the local police station by a taxi driver- as it turns out she is the moll of ‘Jim’ Thunderbolt (George Bancroft), and gets questioned regarding his whereabouts- as he’s a career criminal who has evaded capture for some years. She claims she has no idea where he is- but in the next scene we see the pair going for a night out at an underground speakeasy/ cabaret- the cops burst the place, but Thunderbolt managers to hide/ escape.
 
It becomes clear that Ritzie is becoming somewhat fed up with the criminal, and he starts to get suspicious. So, one day he goes to case-out the apartment Bob and his overbearing mother live- but he slips up while trying to sneak around he befriends a small stray dog…with one thing leading to another, and Thunderbolt is captured,  jailed, and sentenced death row in the blink of an eye.

The first half of the hour and twenty-five-minute film focuses on the blossoming romance between Bob and Ritzie, and Thunderbolt’s suspicions.  The second half is based in the slammer- where we find Thunderbolt interacting with the other prisoners in his corridor, the prison guard who lights his smokes as he tries to guess his name, and the always agitated and wound-up warden.

Acting wise Bancroft is ok as the tough guy with a heart. Arlen is a little flat & vapid though later on he gets a bit more passionate. Wray sells well the moll tired of living the gangster life. But I’d say it’s the supporting cast that shines the most- the wonderfully named Tully Marshall plays the prison warden, and really sells the twitchy & agitated wreck of a man- who at points gets some quite amusing lines. Fred Kohler plays 'Bad Al' Frieberg- a constantly boasting and trying to pick a fight prisoner.
 
The film features a few memorable, at points quite bizarre moments. We have the sudden lights-out raid on the speakeasy, a fall down a staircase fight. Bob having a tickling flight with his overbearing mother. And of course, the in-cell action interactions- taking in the banter between the prisoners, barbershop singing, and Thunderbolt punching the lights out of an unruly cellmate.
 
I personally found there were a few pacing issues with the film, and really it didn’t need to be so long- it would have run a lot better at just over the hour mark. I also felt Thunderbolt and many of the other criminals seemed a little too tame/mild-mannered- but I guess this is down to the period the film was made. On the more positive side of things, Thunderbolt has quite a rewarding character arch, and one of its most compelling/edge-of-seat moments happens towards the end of the film when he’s eyeball to eyeball with Ritzie’s lover.
 
Overall, I’d say Thunderbolt was somewhat of a mixed bag – I enjoyed the second half more than the first, and the pacing was uneven. But I can certainly see its importance in the development of both what would become known as noir, and prison-based dramas.
 

This new region B Blu-Ray features HD remastering of the film- and considering its age, it looks very, very good- with great audio quality too. On the extras side, we get just one new extra on the disc- Sound and Vision (45.06) which finds the always-worthy writer and film programmer Tony Rayns discussing the film, and the career of director Josef von Sternberg.  We find out that in 1926 the director was tasked with making a film for producer Charlie Chaplin- this had the working title of Seagull/ A Woman Of The Sea- it featured silent film starlet Edna Purviance in its lead role. Apparently, this was towards the end of Purviance's career, and she had a noticeable alcohol problem which was said to affected her acting in the film- so, as a result, Chaplin destroyed all copies of the picture, which of course did terrible damage to the director's career. Though he was given a lifeline by Paramount to re-jigg a film, and this got him back into Hollywood. The director is most known for his work with Marlene Dietrich- he made a total of seven films with her. As Rayns moves on to talk about Thunderbolt- we find out it was one of the first Hollywood talkies, and it was very sophisticated with its sound mixing. He discusses the themes in the film- as well as the use of a dog & a cat in the picture, and its meaning. He talks about the general themes of obsessional relationships in the director's film- and much more. An excellent/ most informative extra.
 
Otherwise, on the archive side, we get a 2021 commentary track from critic and writer Nick Pinkerton. A 1990 interview with actress Fay Ray (90.00). And an image gallery. The release is finished off with a thirty-six-page booklet with a new essay by Pamela Hutchinson, an account of the film’s production, an extensive overview of contemporary critical responses, and film credits.

So, in finishing a release for those who are interested in the history of noir & prison-based films- as well, of course, those who are interested in seeing an ahead-of-its-time talky. With this Powerhouse release featuring a classy print, and a small-but-most worthy selection of archive & new extras.