Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #105891 in DVD
• Released on: 2005-06-28
• Rating: NR (Not Rated)
• Aspect ratio: 1.33:1
• Formats: Black & White, Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 90 minutes

Customer Reviews

it's enough to make me wanna lose my soul--if it had a proper restoration, that is
When they say that Sensation Hunters is racy, they aren't kidding! This movie packs a wallop and the plot moves along so fast you won't have time to get bored. Most of the characters are fairly well developed; and we get a couple of good musical numbers performed by Marion Burns and Arline Judge. The cinematography is rather good for a poverty row movie production; and the choreography works very well for crowd and fight scenes.

When the action starts, we are quickly introduced to several people traveling to Panama City on a ship. Dale Jordan (Marion Burns) is a novice cabaret entertainer who wants a change of pace; and she meets her roommate on the ship who also stars in the cabaret, Jerry Royal (Arline Judge). Dale and another shipmate named Tom Baylor (Preston Foster) start a romance onboard ship but nothing too serious comes out of it. Among the other passengers is the leader of the cabaret pack, a tough old crow named Trixie Snell (Juanita Hansen) who just loves to hit the bottle any old time of the day.

Once in Panama City, of course, there are complications. Tom and Dale have a misunderstanding; and then Dale continues to work in Trixie's show as she meets and eventually starts seeing Jimmy Crosby (Kenneth MacKenna). Jimmy talks marriage to Dale after Dale fights with Trixie; but when Jimmy's estranged former wife won't give him a divorce Jimmy realizes he's got a bad problem on his hands.

At just about the same time Trixie Snell has had her fill of Jerry and Dale--and they can't stand her, either. Trixie and Dale work in dump after dump for peanuts; they barely get by and they're saving up money to return to the Unites States. Some very serious trouble comes, though, when Jerry is accidentally wounded in a nightclub fight.

Believe it or not, up to this point I've still left out a few juicy details of the plot. And, of course, the plot can go anywhere from here. Will Jerry survive? What about Dale--will she ditch Jerry there as Jerry wants her to do and return alone to the United States? How far will Dale go to get money to survive and pay Jerry's hospital bills? Will Jimmy be able to get a divorce and marry Dale after all? And what about Tom--will he ever come back to Dale? Watch the movie and find out!

The DVD comes with no real extras although there is "scene selection." Moreover, the print is very much in need of a serious restoration; the film seems cut with jumps here and there; sometimes an actor's line is only partly comprehensible because of these jumps in the film. I have to wonder, though, just how much they could do; I have a feeling that the bits and pieces of missing footage are long gone. What a shame; this is a film that deserves a good restoration.

Sensation Hunters has lots of action for a 66 minute movie. Despite some flaws because it lacks a proper restoration, I do recommend this picture for people who like "pre-code" dramas. People who like older classic movies may also want to get this film.

the Monogram "quickie" at it's height
Sparky and entertaining little roadshow feature from Monogram which doesn't wear out it's welcome. Marion Burns plays a society cutie called Dale Jordan who boards a cruiseliner headed for Panama. Once in the city she gets a job as a cabaret singer. She and her ballsy gal-pal Jerry (Arline Judge) wow the crowds with their act before getting fired. Dale falls in love with a doomed millionaire airman and Jerry is almost killed in a barfight before the film rushes to it's brisk conclusion.

Alpha's DVD offers a badly-worn print, littered with jumps in picture and sound (though it's a miracle we have this film on DVD at all). Nevertheless this is the Monogram 'quickie' at it's height and film collectors will get a big kick out of it.

Decent movie--Poor transfer
I watched this DVD last night. Plot involves a young woman (Arline Judge) who goes into Panama hoping to further her career by singing in a club called the Bull Ring. The club is more of a place where the women hustle the male patrons to buy booze at inflated prices. On her way there, she meets a businessman (Preston Foster) who has an interest in her and tries to dissuade her from working in Panama. She winds up falling for a patron of the club and hopes to marry him, but he is still married. Her career goes downhill as she works for a sleasier club, then to prostitution.

This film is more "pre-Code" than noir, but the story is decent. Unfortunately, the print Alpha used is jumpy, quite worn, and the transfer has too much contrast in it. It's not likely a better version will pop up, however.

Walter Brennan has a small role as a frustrated waiter in an early film appearance.