''Cross Country Cruise'' is a 1934 American Pre-Code romance film directed by Edward Buzzell and written by Elmer Blaney Harris. The film stars

Lew Ayres Lewis Frederick Ayres III (December 28, 1908 – December 30, 1996) was an American actor whose film and television career spanned 65 years. He is best known for starring as German soldier Paul Bäumer in the film '' All Quiet on the Western Fr ...

June Knight June Knight (born Margaret Rose Valliquietto; January 22, 1913 – June 16, 1987) was an American theatre and film actress and singer. Early years Knight was born in Los Angeles in 1913. Sickly throughout the first years of her life, sh ...

Alice White Alice White (born Alva White; August 25, 1904Katz, Ephraim (1979). ''The Film Encyclopedia: The Most Comprehensive Encyclopedia of World Cinema in a Single Volume''. Perigee Books. , pg. 1228. – February 19, 1983) was an American film ac ...

Alan Dinehart Mason Alan Dinehart Sr. (born Harold Alan Dinehart; October 3, 1889 – July 18, 1944) was an American actor, director, writer, and stage manager. Biography Dinehart initially studied to be a priest, but he turned to the theater instead. ...

Minna Gombell Minna Marie Gombell (''née'' Gombel; May 28, 1892 – April 14, 1973) was an American stage and film actress. Early years She was born Minna Marie Gombel in Baltimore, Maryland, the daughter of William and Emma M. Debring Gombel. Her father ...

, and Eugene Pallette. The film was released on January 15, 1934, by

Universal Pictures Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Ameri ...

Parts of the film were shot in

Salt Lake City, Utah Salt Lake City (often shortened to Salt Lake and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Plot

Sue Fleming's suitcase opens by accident, dropping her clothes from a double-decker bus onto Norman Winthrop. She retrieves her belongings and enters the New York City bus terminal. Intrigued, he follows her and returns a

garter belt A garter is an article of clothing comprising a narrow band of fabric fastened about the leg to keep up stockings. In the eighteenth to twentieth centuries, they were tied just below the knee, where the leg is most slender, to keep the stocking f ...

she overlooked. Steve Borden, the man she is involved with, calls her on the phone (though he is also in the terminal) and tells her to buy a ticket to San Francisco. Afterward, she sees him with another woman. They board the bus too. Norman, who is supposed to go to San Francisco by train, decides to travel by bus instead. Murphy has orders from Norman's father to keep him away from women. To Murphy's satisfaction, Sue rebuffs Norman's initial attempts to become better acquainted. May gives all her money to a friend, but manages to charm the bus driver, various relief drivers and Willy, a talkative, know-it-all passenger, into letting her ride for free. When the bus stops in Poughkeepsie, Steve and Nita Borden prove to be con artists, selling bibles at inflated prices to those who have lost loved ones recently, claiming they were specially ordered by the deceased. Nita, suspecting what is going on, later chats with Sue and introduces her husband, Steve. A disgusted Sue breaks up with Steve. She then makes a date with the persistent Norman at

Niagara Falls Niagara Falls () is a group of three waterfalls at the southern end of Niagara Gorge, spanning the border between the province of Ontario in Canada and the state of New York in the United States. The largest of the three is Horseshoe Falls, ...

. While Norman is getting ready, Murphy steals his clothes, but Norman goes with Sue to see the Falls wearing a raincoat provided by the tour company. When a tour employee demands the raincoat, Norman is shown to have only a bath towel on underneath. Norman arranges a candle-lit dinner for two in Chicago, but Murphy invites all the other passengers. When the bus later has engine trouble, the passengers go to a nearby carnival, where Norman challenges Sue to a bow and arrow contest; the prize, if he wins, is a kiss, but she proves to be a much better shot. Later, though, Sue finally lets him kiss her. In Denver, Sue goes shopping in a department store. Steve takes her into a tent in the sporting goods department and tries to get her back, but she turns him down. Nita finds them together. Sue tells her that she is through with Steve, but Nita does not believe her. After Sue leaves, Nita informs Steve that she is going to tell the police all about his scams, so he kills her with a bow and arrow. It is nearly closing time, so he is able to conceal the corpse in a window display as a mannequin. Back on the bus, Steve claims his wife is visiting friends in Denver. Then he tells Norman that Sue broke off their engagement. Norman believes him. When Nita's body is discovered, the police stop the bus and question Steve. Sue states she left after Nita found the two of them in the store, but Steve claims that it was he who left. When Sue's archery skills are revealed, she is taken into custody. However, Norman is able to cast suspicion on Steve too. The police decide to take everyone to Reno, but as they start to board the bus, Steve suddenly forces the driver at gunpoint to speed away, with Sue as the only other passenger. Then Steve takes the wheel and makes the driver jump off. Norman and the police land an airplane on the road ahead of the bus. Steve dies after crashing into it, but Sue is all right. When the bus reaches San Francisco, May and Willy prepare to get married, but he is arrested for

bigamy In cultures where monogamy is mandated, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their marital status as married persons. I ...

. Norman and Murphy head to a lumber camp in Washington state, where Norman and Sue (and Murphy and May) pair off.

Cast

as Norman Winthrop *

as Sue Fleming *

as May *

as Steve Borden * Eugene Pallette as Willy Bronson *

as Nita Borden *Arthur Vinton as Murphy *

Robert McWade Robert McWade (January 25, 1872 – January 19, 1938), was an American stage and film actor. McWade was born in Buffalo, New York. He was the third actor named Robert McWade, after his father and grandfather. In 1902, McWade debuted on stag ...

as The Grouch *

Henry Armetta Henry Armetta (born Enrico Armetta; July 4, 1888 – October 21, 1945) was an American character actor who appeared in at least 150 American films, beginning in silent movies. His last film was released posthumously in 1946, the year after his d ...

as The Italian *

Jimmy Conlin Jimmy Conlin (October 14, 1884 – May 7, 1962) was an American character actor who appeared in almost 150 films in his 32-year career. Career Conlin was born in Camden, New Jersey in 1884, and his acting career started out in vaudeville, ...

as Sid

Reception

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' critic wrote that " the drama lacks conviction. It looks, acts and sounds like patchwork. ... the only inspired traveler is Alan Dinehart".

References

External links

* * {{Edward Buzzell 1934 films 1930s romance films American black-and-white films American romance films 1930s English-language films Buses in fiction Films directed by Edward Buzzell American road movies Universal Pictures films Films shot in Salt Lake City 1930s American films