Burning Up (1930) - Fast cars, loud engines, and plenty of dust

If you have an hour to spare and you don’t mind the sound of engines that sound like a bag of nails in a blender, you should give Burning Up a watch. It is perfect for anyone who likes those early movies where everything feels a bit dangerous and dirty. If you hate old-timey melodrama or can't stand the crackle of early sound films, you will probably want to skip it. 🏎️

Richard Arlen plays Lou Larrigan. He has that classic 1930s look where he seems like he could fix a car engine with a toothpick and some gum. He’s a racecar driver, and he spends a lot of time looking intense behind a steering wheel.

The movie really gets going when the racing starts. It’s 1930, so the cameras aren’t as fancy as they are now, but they still managed to get some wild shots. There is one moment where the camera is clearly mounted right on the side of a car, and you can see the wheels spinning inches away from the dirt. It feels much more real than a lot of the fake-looking stuff we see today.

Lou gets mixed up with some promoters who are basically just gangsters in nice suits. They want to fix the races. It’s a simple story, but it works because the bad guys are so easy to dislike. Francis McDonald plays one of them, and he has this way of looking at people that makes you want to check if your wallet is still in your pocket.

Then there is Ruth Morgan, played by Mary Brian. She’s the heart of the movie, I guess. She’s sweet and spends a lot of time looking worried about her father. Her father is played by Charles Sellon, who looks like he’s made of thin glass. He’s the one the gang is trying to squeeze, which puts Lou in a tough spot.

The romance between Lou and Ruth is... okay. It’s very fast. One minute they’re meeting, and the next they’re acting like they’ve known each other for a decade. That’s just how movies were back then. It’s not as slow or drawn out as something like Pettigrew's Girl.

I noticed this one specific shot during a race where a guy in the crowd is jumping up and down, but he’s totally out of sync with everyone else. It’s a tiny detail, but once you see it, you can’t look away. It makes the whole scene feel more like a real day at the track and less like a polished set.

The sound is really something else. Since it’s a 1930 film, the microphones were still a bit finicky. When the cars roar past, the audio peaks and gets all distorted. It’s loud. It’s messy. But honestly? It adds to the vibe. You can almost smell the gasoline and the burnt rubber coming off the screen.

It’s definitely more exciting than The Poor Fish, which felt like it was stuck in second gear the whole time. Burning Up actually moves. It doesn't waste much time on long speeches about feelings. It just wants to get back to the track.

There’s a bit where Lou is talking to his mechanic, and the mechanic is just covered in grease. Like, his whole face is black with oil. It’s a bit much, but it makes you realize how much work went into these old cars. They weren't just machines; they were monsters that needed constant attention.

One reaction shot of the villain lingers for about three seconds too long. He just stares into the camera with this smug grin. It actually becomes kind of funny after a while. You expect him to start twirling a mustache, even though he doesn't have one.

The writers, Grover Jones and William Slavens McNutt, knew how to keep the stakes high. Even when the dialogue gets a little cheesy, you still want to see Lou win. You want to see the bad guys get what's coming to them. It’s a classic underdog story, just with more dust and goggles.

If you’ve seen The Little Giant, you might recognize the same kind of energy here. It’s that early-thirties grit. Everything feels a bit unpolished, which I think is a good thing. It feels like the people making it were having fun and not worrying too much about being perfect. 🏁

The ending is pretty predictable, but the final race is filmed with so much energy that you don't really care. You can see the drivers bouncing around in their seats because the tracks were so bumpy. It looks genuinely uncomfortable. I don't know how they did it without getting a concussion every five minutes.

It’s not a deep film. It’s not going to make you rethink your life. But if you want to see Richard Arlen look cool and watch some vintage cars fly around a dirt oval, it’s a great way to spend an afternoon. Much better than sitting through something like Mother Knows Best if you’re in the mood for action.

Sometimes the scene transitions are a bit abrupt. One minute they’re in a garage, and the next they’re at a fancy dinner. It’s like the editor just decided they’d spent enough time in the garage and cut it short. It’s a bit jarring, but you get used to it.

Overall, I liked it more than I expected. It’s greasy, it’s loud, and it’s fast. Just like a good race should be. ⛽