''The Lightning Flyer'' is a 1931 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

action film The action film is a film genre that predominantly features chase sequences, fights, shootouts, explosions, and stunt work. The specifics of what constitutes an action film has been in scholarly debate since the 1980s. While some scholars such as D ...

directed by

William Nigh William Nigh, born Emil Kreuske (October 12, 1881 – November 27, 1955), was an American film Film director, director, screenwriter, writer, and actor. His film work sometimes lists him as either "Will Nigh" or "William Nye". Biography Nig ...

and starring James Hall,

Dorothy Sebastian Dorothy Sebastian (born Stella Dorothy Sabiston; April 26, 1903The book ''Celebrities in Los Angeles Cemeteries: A Directory'' gives Sebastian's date of birth as April 26, 1907. – April 8, 1957) was an American film and stage actress. Ear ...

and

Robert Homans Robert Edward Homans (November 8, 1877 – July 28, 1947) was an American actor who entered films in 1923 after a lengthy stage career. Life and career Robert Homans was born November 8, 1877, in Malden, Massachusetts. Although he studied ...

.Martin p.188

Plot

After graduating from

college A college (Latin: ''collegium'') may be a tertiary educational institution (sometimes awarding degrees), part of a collegiate university, an institution offering vocational education, a further education institution, or a secondary sc ...

, the son of a

railroad Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport using wheeled vehicles running in railway track, tracks, which usually consist of two parallel steel railway track, rails. Rail transport is one of the two primary means of ...

president takes a job working for the company under an assumed name to prove that he isn't as lazy as his father thinks. He falls in love but also makes a bitter enemy in the

yard The yard (symbol: yd) is an English units, English unit of length in both the British imperial units, imperial and US United States customary units, customary systems of measurement equalling 3 foot (unit), feet or 36 inches. Sinc ...

foreman. After exposing the man as a thief and a murderer, his antagonist breaks out of prison and seeks revenge by way of a runaway train.

Cast

* James Hall as Jimmie Nelson *

as Rose Rogers * Walter Merrill as Tom Summers *

as John Nelson * Albert J. Smith as Durkin *

Ethan Allen Ethan Allen ( – February 12, 1789) was an American farmer, writer, military officer and politician. He is best known as one of the founders of Vermont and for the capture of Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolutionary War, and wa ...

as Sam Rogers *

Eddie Boland Eddie Boland (December 27, 1885 – February 3, 1935) was an American film actor. He appeared in more than 110 films from 1912 to 1937, mostly in comedic supporting roles. Among his best-known roles were "The Obliging Gentleman" in F. W. ...

as Slats *

George Meadows George may refer to: Names * George (given name) * George (surname) People * George (singer), American-Canadian singer George Nozuka, known by the mononym George * George Papagheorghe, also known as Jorge / GEØRGE * George, stage name of Giorg ...

as Pudge

References

Bibliography

* Martin, Len D. ''Columbia Checklist: The Feature Films, Serials, Cartoons, and Short Subjects of Columbia Pictures Corporation, 1922-1988''. McFarland, 1991.

External links

* 1931 films 1930s action films American action films Films directed by William Nigh Columbia Pictures films 1930s English-language films 1930s American films English-language action films {{1930s-drama-film-stub