DbcultAccessing Vault...
4.3/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 4.3/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. Torchy Passes the Buck remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, only if you have a soft spot for 1930s snappy dialogue and characters who move like they're fueled by pure adrenaline and bad coffee. If you need logic or, heaven forbid, a plot that doesn't just evaporate halfway through, you’re going to hate this. It’s a B-movie through and through, and it knows it.
Torchy is basically the star of the show, obviously. She’s loud, she’s pushy, and she somehow always knows who the killer is before the detectives even step into the room. It’s exhausting just watching her.
There is this one scene—I think it’s about twenty minutes in—where Franklin Pangborn shows up. He’s doing his usual thing, looking like he’s smelling something sour, and he just dominates the room for no reason. I found myself wishing the movie would just follow him instead of the main plot.
The pacing is a mess. It’s like they were running out of film stock and decided to just skip every third transition. One minute they’re in an office, the next they’re at a racetrack, and nobody seems to have actually traveled anywhere. It’s dizzying.
Compared to something like A Ship Comes In, which actually bothers to build a little bit of weight, this is pure fluff. It feels like a snack you ate too fast and now you're not sure if you’re still hungry or just regretful.
There is this moment where someone gets handed a stack of money, and the way they hold it looks so obviously like prop bills it’s almost distracting. I don’t know why that stuck with me, but there you go. 💸
Ultimately—wait, I promised not to use that word. Let's just say this: it’s a weird, frantic little ride. Don't go in expecting a masterpiece. Go in expecting to be mildly annoyed but strangely entertained by how fast everyone is walking.