''Powder Town'' is a 1942 comedy about an eccentric scientist thrust into danger and romance.

Max Brand Frederick Schiller Faust (May 29, 1892 – May 12, 1944) was an American writer known primarily for his Western stories using the pseudonym Max Brand. He (as Max Brand) also created the popular fictional character of young medical intern D ...

worked on the screenplay and published a

novelisation A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the adve ...

under his own name.

Plot

Young J. Quincy Pennant is a brilliant but absent-minded scientist who is experimenting with an explosive method which directs a

shock wave In physics, a shock wave (also spelled shockwave), or shock, is a type of propagating disturbance that moves faster than the local speed of sound in the medium. Like an ordinary wave, a shock wave carries energy and can propagate through a me ...

past obstructions to impact a distant target. He is sent to a rapidly growing "powder town" being developed around an

arsenal An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are mostl ...

and

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

factory where population growth has attracted criminals, foreign spies and saboteurs. Pennant is placed in a boarding house where he is the only male sharing with five female entertainers who work at a local casino run by gangsters. The rambunctious and physically imposing Jeems O'Shea, head of the powder monkeys at the factory, and his

sycophant In modern English, sycophant denotes an "insincere flatterer" and is used to refer to someone practising sycophancy (i.e., insincere flattery to gain advantage). The word has its origin in the legal system of Classical Athens. Most legal cases o ...

Billy arrive at the house. O'Shea plays rough with the ladies, chasing them around the boarding house and playfully molesting them. Pennant gives O'Shea a casual

punch Punch commonly refers to: * Punch (combat), a strike made using the hand closed into a fist * Punch (drink), a wide assortment of drinks, non-alcoholic or alcoholic, generally containing fruit or fruit juice Punch may also refer to: Places * Pu ...

, putting him off-balance and tumbling down the stairwell—knocking him out cold, to everyone's amazement. When Pennant reports to the factory, he formally meets O'Shea who at first is surprised that Pennant is not the giant he thought he was. He attempts to intimidate Pennant who is too absent-minded to understand the threats. O'Shea perceives this as nonchalant courage, a highly respected quality among munitions workers. As Pennant develops his shock-wave explosive concept, he is given his own pistol and assigned O'Shea as a bodyguard. Pennant falls in love with Sally Dean who also lives at the boarding house. Unknown to him, she has been paid by the gangster boss, Oliver Lindsay, to steal the explosive formula. Things come to a head when O'Shea takes the naive Pennant out for a night on the town. The muddleheaded scientist is oblivious to several assassination and abduction attempts by enemy agents. O'Shea takes this as a display of coolness. Pennant is introduced to his first alcoholic drink, after which he breaks the bank at the casino, winning $900 and the admiration of all the women. The gangsters start a brawl in order to attack Pennant and retrieve their money but O'Shea demolishes both them and the casino. Dr Wayne, who runs the munitions factory, threatens to fire Pennant when he finds out that Pennant has been gambling and involved with the "gay" women at the casino but Pennant insists he wants to at least continue to see Sally, to whom he has given the secret formula to for safe-keeping. During this time the enemy agents as well as Lindsay continue efforts to obtain Pennant's formula. The gangsters go looking for Pennant at the factory but find O'Shea in the way. They attempt to blow up the factory and set a 5-minute timer with explosives on a cart inside the dynamite room after they bind O'Shea and Pennant. They flee on the arrival of Dr Wayne, the guards and the girls. O'Shea and Pennant are released in time to push the explosives cart down the hill, where it collides with and destroys the getaway car. The two heroes then return to Dr Wayne and the girls who embrace their men, and the movie ends with them kissing. Dr Wayne is shown the coded formula written on a wall in the office of the factory.

Cast

Victor McLaglen Victor Andrew de Bier Everleigh McLaglen (10 December 1886 – 7 November 1959) was a British boxer-turned-Hollywood actor.Obituary ''Variety'', 11 November 1959, page 79. He was known as a character actor, particularly in Westerns, and made sev ...

... Jeems O'Shea *

Edmond O'Brien Eamon Joseph O'Brien (September 10, 1915 – May 9, 1985) was an American actor and film director. His career spanned almost 40 years, and he won one Academy Award, two Golden Globe Awards, and two stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. O'Brien w ...

... J. Quincy 'Penji' Pennant *

June Havoc June Havoc (born Ellen Evangeline Hovick; November 8, 1912 – March 28, 2010) was a Canadian American actress, dancer, stage director and memoirist. Havoc was a child vaudeville performer under the tutelage of her mother Rose Thompson Hovick, ...

... Dolly Smythe *

Dorothy Lovett Dorothy Lovett (February 16, 1915 – April 28, 1998) was an American film actress. Biography Early and personal life Lovett was born in Providence, Rhode Island. She married director Jack Hively (1910-1995) on December 25, 1941, wh ...

... Sally Dean *

Eddie Foy Jr. Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. (February 4, 1905 – July 15, 1983), known professionally as Eddie Foy Jr., was an American stage, film, and television actor. Early life Edwin Fitzgerald Jr. was born on February 4, 1905, in New Rochelle, New York, the ...

... Billy Meeker * Damian O'Flynn ... Oliver Lindsay *

Marten Lamont A marten is a weasel-like mammal in the genus ''Martes'' within the subfamily Guloninae, in the family Mustelidae. They have bushy tails and large paws with partially retractile claws. The fur varies from yellowish to dark brown, depending on t ...

... Chick Parker *

Roy Gordon Roy is a masculine given name and a family surname with varied origin. In Anglo-Norman England, the name derived from the Norman ''roy'', meaning "king", while its Old French cognate, ''rey'' or ''roy'' (modern ''roi''), likewise gave rise t ...

... Dr. Wayne *

Marion Martin Marion Suplee (born June 7, 1909 – August 13, 1985) known professionally as Marion Martin was an American film and stage actress. Biography Martin was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the daughter of a Bethlehem Steel executive. She became ...

... Sue * Mary Gordon ... Mrs. Douglas * Frances E. Neal ... Carol * Julie Warren ... Betty * Jane Woodworth ... Helen *

George Cleveland George Alan Cleveland (September 17, 1885 – July 15, 1957) was a Canadian film actor. He appeared in more than 180 films between 1930 and 1954. Career Cleveland was born in Sydney, Nova Scotia, Canada. His first appearance on the stag ...

... Gus the Janitor

References

External links

* {{Rowland V. Lee 1942 films American black-and-white films 1940s spy comedy films World War II spy films American spy comedy films Films produced by Cliff Reid Films directed by Rowland V. Lee RKO Pictures films 1942 comedy films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films