Torchy Blane is a fictional female reporter who appeared in a series of light "B" films during the late 1930s

1930s in film

The decade of the 1930s in film involved many significant films. 1939 was one of the biggest years in Hollywood.----Contents# Events# List of films: # A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z....

, 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

Glenda Farrell

-Career:Farrell came to Hollywood towards the end of the silent era. Farrell began her career with a theatrical company at the age of 7. She played Little Eva in Uncle Tom's Cabin...

, and Steve McBride by Barton MacLane

Barton MacLane

Barton MacLane was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. Although he has appeared in many classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s, he was known for his role as Gen...

.

Lola Lane

Lane Sisters

The Lane Sisters refers to a group of sisters, three of whom achieved success in the 1920s and 1930s as a singing act, with their popularity onstage leading to a series of successful films. A fourth sister was not successful and left this milieu and a fifth avoided show business altogether...

 played Torchy in Torchy Blane in Panama with Paul Kelly

Paul Kelly (actor)

Paul Michael Kelly was an American child actor who later as an adult became a stage, film, and television actor.-Child actor:...

 as McBride. Torchy Blane was Superman

Superman

Superman is a fictional comic book superhero appearing in publications by DC Comics, widely considered to be an American cultural icon. Created by American writer Jerry Siegel and Canadian-born American artist Joe Shuster in 1932 while both were living in Cleveland, Ohio, and sold to Detective...

 co-creator Jerry Siegel

Jerry Siegel

Jerome "Jerry" Siegel , who also used pseudonyms including Joe Carter, Jerry Ess, and Herbert S...

's inspiration for the personality of the character of Lois Lane

Lois Lane

Lois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....

. Siegel based Lois Lane

Lois Lane

Lois Lane is a fictional character, the primary love interest of Superman in the comic books of DC Comics. Created by writer Jerry Siegel and artist Joe Shuster, she first appeared in Action Comics #1 ....

's name on Torchy actress Lola Lane

Lane Sisters

The Lane Sisters refers to a group of sisters, three of whom achieved success in the 1920s and 1930s as a singing act, with their popularity onstage leading to a series of successful films. A fourth sister was not successful and left this milieu and a fifth avoided show business altogether...

.

In the final film of the series, Torchy Plays with Dynamite, Jane Wyman

Jane Wyman

Jane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...

 was Torchy, and Allen Jenkins

Allen Jenkins

Allen Jenkins was an American character actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:He was born David Allen Curtis Jenkins in Staten Island, New York on April 9, 1900.-Career:...

 Lt. Steve McBride. Torchy Blane is a fast-talking newspaper reporter of the 1930s. She often becomes involved in police investigations, eventually leading to the capture of criminals. As her fiance, Steve Macbride, is usually involved in these investigations, he often comes under suspicion of favoritism.

The character of Torchy Blane appeared in the following Warner Brothers and First National

First National

First National was an association of independent theater owners in the United States that expanded from exhibiting movies to distributing them, and eventually to producing them as a movie studio, called First National Pictures, Inc. It later merged with Warner Bros.-Early history:The First National...

 films:

Released	|Film title	|Run time	|Starring as
	Torchy Blane	Steve McBride
1937	Smart Blonde	59 min	Glenda Farrell Glenda Farrell -Career:Farrell came to Hollywood towards the end of the silent era. Farrell began her career with a theatrical company at the age of 7. She played Little Eva in Uncle Tom's Cabin...	Barton MacLane Barton MacLane Barton MacLane was an American actor, playwright, and screenwriter. Although he has appeared in many classic films from the 1930s through the 1960s, he was known for his role as Gen...
	Fly-Away Baby	60 min
	The Adventurous Blonde	61 min
1938	Blondes At Work	63 min
	Torchy Blane in Panama	59 min	Lola Lane Lane Sisters The Lane Sisters refers to a group of sisters, three of whom achieved success in the 1920s and 1930s as a singing act, with their popularity onstage leading to a series of successful films. A fourth sister was not successful and left this milieu and a fifth avoided show business altogether...	Paul Kelly Paul Kelly (actor) Paul Michael Kelly was an American child actor who later as an adult became a stage, film, and television actor.-Child actor:...
	Torchy Gets Her Man	63 min	Glenda Farrell	Barton MacLane
1939	Torchy Blane in Chinatown	58 min
	Torchy Runs for Mayor	60 min
	Torchy Blane ... Playing with Dynamite	59 min	Jane Wyman Jane Wyman Jane Wyman was an American singer, dancer, and character actress of film and television. She began her film career in the 1930s, and was a prolific performer for two decades...	Allen Jenkins Allen Jenkins Allen Jenkins was an American character actor of stage, screen and television.-Early life:He was born David Allen Curtis Jenkins in Staten Island, New York on April 9, 1900.-Career:...

External links

• Thrilling detective

As of 2009, Turner Classic Movies have made a number of original trailers freely available online at their web site.