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The Torchy Blane
Movie Collection
Torchy Blane is a fictional
female reporter who appeared in a series of light "B"
films during the late 1930s, which were mixtures of mystery, action,
adventure and fun.
During the pre-war period, the job of newspaper reporter was one of the few movie role models that portrayed intelligent, career-oriented women. Of these role models, Torchy Blane was perhaps the best known. The typical plot has the resilient, very-fast-talking Torchy solving the crime before her less-than-perceptive beau, the loud mouthed police detective Steve McBride.
Torchy was loosely based on the male character Kennedy in the
MacBride and Kennedy stories by Louis Frederick Nebel, although
Torchy was more compatible with the Hays code than the drunkard
Kennedy.
In all but two of the films, Torchy Blane was played by Glenda Farrell, and Steve McBride by Barton MacLane.
Lola Lane played Torchy in Torchy Blane in Panama with Paul Kelly as
McBride. Torchy Blane was Superman co-creator Jerry Siegel's
inspiration for the personality of the character of Lois Lane.
Siegel based Lois Lane's name on Torchy actress Lola Lane.
In the final film of the series, Torchy Plays with Dynamite, Jane
Wyman was Torchy, and Allen Jenkins Lt. Steve McBride.
Smart Blonde (1937)
Fly-Away Baby (1937) The Adventurous Blonde (1937) Blondes at Work (1938) Torchy Blane in Panama (1938) Torchy Gets Her Man (1938) Torchy Blane in Chinatown (1939) Torchy Runs for Mayor (1939) Torchy Blane.. Playing with Dynamite (1939)
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