Calling All Cars: A Forgettable Mess Worth a Look?

Is it worth your time?

If you have a soft spot for 1930s B-movies where nobody really stops to breathe, you might dig Calling All Cars. It is not exactly high art, and if you are looking for a tight, logical script, you will probably hate it. It is for the folks who like their plots thin and their side characters loud. 🕵️‍♂️

The whole thing feels like it was filmed in a frantic rush. You have a reporter who thinks he is the smartest person in the room, which usually means he is about to get smacked in the head. He spends as much time flirting with the mobster’s girl as he does looking for actual evidence. It is a weirdly specific priority list for an investigative journalist.

Odd little moments

There is this one scene near the middle where the dialogue just stops making sense for about thirty seconds. It feels like they forgot to film the bridge between two rooms. You just blink and suddenly they are standing somewhere else, shouting at a new guy who wasn't there before. It’s charmingly broken.

Lillian Miles puts in a decent shift, even if the script gives her almost nothing to do but look worried near a telephone. It reminded me a bit of the frantic pacing in The Flying Fool, where the camera seems to be running just to keep up with the actors who are trying to find their marks.

• The lighting in the office scene is almost entirely missing.
• Nobody seems to know how to hold a prop gun properly.
• There is a background extra who walks past the same door three times.

I can’t help but think of Go Straight when I watch these old crime shorts. There is a similar vibe of people trying to look tough while wearing suits that don't quite fit their shoulders. Calling All Cars isn't going to change your life, and it definitely isn't the best thing you'll see this month. But sometimes you just want to watch a movie that isn't trying to be anything more than a noisy distraction.

It wraps up so abruptly I actually checked if my internet glitched. One minute there is a standoff, then a quick scuffle, and then the credits just start rolling over a black screen. No lingering shots, no emotional payoff. Just... done. It’s almost impressive how little it cares about giving you a proper exit.