Starring: Aline MacMahon, Ann Dvorak, Preston Foster, Lyle Talbot, Glenda Farrell, Frank McHugh

Hosted by Caroline Golum and Cristina Cacioppo. Followed by an afterparty in Trees Lounge with a DJ set of pre-code era tunes from Owen Kline plus our signature cocktail special “Blonde in Hell.”

Character actress and Pre-Code Parade favorite Aline MacMahon gets her well-deserved top-billing in Mervyn LeRoy’s snappy four-hander set in a dusty outpost of the Mojave Desert. Playing up her tomboy bonafides as strong-willed filling-station proprietress Olga, MacMahon keeps a watchful eye on kid sister Myra (Ann Dvorak), but the sudden arrival of a criminal gang on the lam throw a match in the gas tank. Despite its skimpy 63-minute runtime, Heat Lightning packs a serious pre-Code punch, with plenty of innuendos, moral ambiguities, and double-entres to keep your motor revvin’.