Larceny on the Air is a 1937 action film. Dr. Lawrence Baxter is a crusading physician who exposes health quacks. This time, his target is Kennedy’s radium medicine. However, since Kennedy is rich and powerful, he has a hard time beating him. When Dr. Baxter buys radio time, Kennedy buys it away from him. Jean Sterling, whose father runs a health mag, offers him airtime. Inspector McDonald tells him that the magazine is a scam backed by Kennedy. Dr. Baxter decides to pretend to go crooked so he can expose Kennedy. Will his plan go off without a hitch?
This is an entertaining movie with one flaw: by the time it was released, people already knew radium was dangerous. It would have worked better if Kennedy used a different ingredient. Still, it doesn’t completely hurt the movie. The plot twists are interesting and make a weird sort of sense. Dr. Baxter is quite clever and is able to beat Kennedy at his own game. Although the movie is short, the pacing doesn’t suffer. The plot is cool since health quacks have always existed, making it a timeless story. Honolulu film fans should check out this movie.
More at: Tricia’s Retro Film Reviews
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