In many ways, this film reminds me of another Warner Brothers film made just a few years later, "The Petrified Forest". Both are set at isolated gas stations in the desert and both involve gangsters who come there to seek shelter. However, the films are certainly different enough to make it worth seeing them both.Olga (Aline MacMahon) is a world-weary soul who has chosen to move into the middle of nowhere because she's tired of people. Her sister, Myrna (Ann Dvorak), however, isn't tired of people and yearns for excitement and men-- and the pair couldn't be more different. Into their very dull and predictable lives come an assortment of folks to stay at their gas station/motor court. One pair are a couple of divorcées on their way from Reno after their latest conquest. Another are a pair of crooks on the run from the law. In a coincidence you'll only see in a play or movie, it turns out the boss (Preston Foster) was once Olga's lover! What's next? See the film.There are two main things going for this film--Foster and MacMahon. Their characters are interesting and the final scene between them is something to see! Unfortunately, Dvorak's role is very whiny and annoying--and the character significantly impairs the film with her overwrought performance. Overall, it is worth seeing but is far from brilliant work from the studio.

I enjoyed this film. I posted a Spoiler Alert just in case I say too much. First of all besides the setting I didn't think it was like The Petrified Forest. The Petrified Forest is a better film and story but this little mostly unknown flick is good. Olga (MacMahon) is now running a "next gas 200 miles" kind of a rest-stop/motel in the lonely dreary and hot desert. Unlike Gabriel, where Davis' character who was filled with optimism, Olga had seen that done that. She's somewhat jaded but still has that spark of something positive. Preston Foster and Lyle Talbot are on the lam. It's that "of all the gin joints she walks into mine" kinda thing. Foster and MacMahon were lovers at one time. Foster isn't the nicest fella but when MacMahon sports a dress and some make-up he with all his smarmy charm shows an inkling of interest. However he's so awful that it's best that MacMahon not really pursue this. Enough said. Poor Myra, Olga's younger sister, Dvorak, bored to the gills and wants to have some fun in life. She meets a self-sided loser and is of course saddened even tho' Olga warned her about men. Glenda Farrell, Ruth Donnelly and Frank McHugh show up who are mainly a diversion even though parts are paramount to the plot and I'm not divulging same. A family of Mexicans stop by just for atmosphere in my opinion. What happens near the end is something you'll have to see. Again, the running time of this film is short, good actors, a bit of comic relief and do not expect The Petrified Forest and enjoy.

Grease monkey Aline McMahon (as Olga) runs a "Service Station and Auto Camp" in the California desert, with help from attractive little sister Ann Dvorak (as Myra). Ms. MacMahon takes care of gas and gaskets (outside), while Ms. Dvorak serves cold beer and Coca-Cola (inside). MacMahon has sworn off cabarets, after a bad relationship - but, innocent Dvorak wants to go out and have fun. There are opportunities in the middle of the desert, as frequent travelers abound.While discouraging Dvorak, MacMahon has second thoughts about the male gender after old flame Preston Foster (as George, but MacMahon still calls him "Jerry") chances by the station, with "peeping Tom" pal Lyle Talbot (as Jeff). The pair are on the lam, after a bank heist and double-murder. MacMahon covers for Mr. Preston, when the sheriff comes looking for the crooks. MacMahon seems ready to re-succumb to Preston's masculine charms, but may want to reconsider… Everyone pretends to be hot, but Mervyn LeRoy's "Heat Lightning" is all subtest, and no steam. The cast is fun, though.***** Heat Lightning (3/3/34) Mervyn LeRoy ~ Aline MacMahon, Preston Foster, Ann Dvorak, Lyle Talbot

A fine example of minimalist film-making, this Warners B-pic offers a proto-feminist scenario delivered with some swell precode attitude. Two sisters (one world-weary, the other innocent) run a service-station-cum-caravansary on an isolated desert highway. Every passerby kids them about how dull and lonely this existence must be, but in the space of one night they serve host to a pair of criminals on the run, a couple of gold-diggers on the way back from Reno with their swag (and with a wise-guy chauffeur), plus a large family of Mexicans on the way to a fiesta.The main thrust of the film is melodramatic, as even in their isolation the women cannot avoid mistreatment by treacherous men. However, it's also filled with neat little comic bits and clever wisecracks. Director Mervyn Le Roy creates plenty of atmosphere with few resources, and the cheap-jack desert-palms backdrop (with the Mexican father tenderly serenading his family in the background) sticks in the memory. Le Roy uses an almost slow-motion tracking shot to great effect to show the hallucinatory influence of an ex-lover on the older sister as he intrudes into this sweaty environment. And it's pretty clear that there's a lot of casual sleeping around going on -- a lot of the jokes and situations probably wouldn't have survived the censors if this were a more prominent picture (and definitely not a year later). But the picture never flaunts its raciness -- sex is just part of the fabric of life.Though consistently enjoyable, the movie never builds up enough intensity to be classed with the immortal second features like Detour (though the climax does pack a punch). Surprisingly, the two leads never really click. Aline MacMahon and Ann Dvorak were always marvelously idiosyncratic in supporting roles, but here the former's baroque style seems overdone for the milieu, and the latter doesn't have much opportunity to vent her repressed passion (maybe the censor trimmed that bit). Overall, though, the performances from the many familiar faces are excellent, my particular favorite occurring in the opening scene featuring Edgar Kennedy as the henpecked spouse of Jane Darwell.Definitely worth seeking out for aficionados (but hard to find). Some might compare it to The Petrified Forest, but it gives me a bit of an offbeat Shack Out on 101 vibe, too.