“Swift Vengeance” Stars Tim Holt

Northern Advocate, 2 December 1939, Page 12

“Swift Vengeance” Stars Tim Holt

Dog sleuthing, one of the activities of the police departments of major American and European cities which is rarely revealed on the screen, receives an entertaining treatment in “Swift Vengeance.” Tim Holt, the adventure-loving son of Jack Holt, heads the principal cast in “Swift Vengeance,” which also includes Virginia Weidler, eleven-year-old comedy favourite, Janet Shaw, winsome ingenue, and Ace, the Wonder Dog. Holt portrays a “green” policeman, young and ambitious and convinced that the police department should make use of trained dogs such as hi? own shepherd, Ace. But while the chief of police is interested, the conservative police commissioner refuses to listen to Holt’s arguments. When Ace aids Holt in making an arrest, the papers gibe at the commissioner, who orders Holt to keep his dog home. Sent to protect a payroll delivery, Holt is lured from the scene and the money is stolen. He is suspended from the force, but gets a clue to the identity of the thieves. With the aid of Ace he races them to their headquarters at a notorious roadhouse.

Holt and the dog surprise the gangsters as they try to escape, and in turn they are imprisoned, while the mobleader "attempts to use Holt’s fiancee, the chief’s daughter, as a shield behind whom to make his getaway. In due course the dog exhibits his almost human abilities and tracks down the leader, disarms him, identifies the other culprits and finally convinces the police commissioner that dogs have a definite place in the department.

A romance between the • young cop and the chief’s daughter, the curiosity of a neighbour’s small girl who tries to aid Holt in his activities, plus the interesting scenes of the training and he unique abilities of police dogs, are also featured in “Swift Vengeance.” 4 Young Holt, playing his first leading role, has an excellent opportunity as the determined young cop, and Janet Shaw is cast as the heroine. Eleven-year-old Virginia Weidier provides much of the comedy, as the inquisitive little friend of Holt’s, and Robert E. Keane, Ralf Harolde, Muriel Evans, Frank Thomas and other well-known players have important roles.