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6.3/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.3/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Looking for Trouble remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Look, if you’re a fan of pre-code era snappy dialogue and don’t mind a plot that’s thinner than a telephone wire, you’ll probably have a decent time. If you need your movies to have weight or some kind of grand statement, stay away. It’s a 77-minute headache-reliever, nothing more.
Spencer Tracy is the main reason this works at all. He plays Joe with this restless energy that makes him feel like he’s actually doing the work, even when the sets are clearly just plywood.
The whole premise is absurd. Two guys fixing phones for a living somehow end up in the middle of a massive racketeering scheme. It’s the kind of 1930s logic where a job title is just a costume for whatever the script needs them to do next.
There is a moment where they are trying to prove Ethel’s boss is a total crook. It feels less like detective work and more like two guys bumbling through a dark office until they find the one piece of paper that solves everything.
The burning building scene. Man, they really went for it with the practical effects there. It feels surprisingly frantic for 1934. You can practically smell the cheap studio smoke.
I couldn't help but think about how much more grounded this felt than something like The Great Cattle War, which tries way too hard to be epic. Here, if someone gets punched, they just stay punched. There's no dramatic musical swell to tell you how to feel about it.
The chemistry between the leads saves the movie from being a total slog. It’s messy, it’s loud, and the ending is completely rushed, but I’ve seen worse ways to spend an hour. 📞🔥