Did you know that Torchy Blane actress Lola Lane inspired comic book creator Jerry Siegel when coming up with a name for Superman's girlfriend and that the Torchy Blane film series featured one of the first Hollywood portrayals of a strong, independent, career-minded woman on the big screen?
▬Contents of this video▬ 00:00 - Intro 01:07 - Glenda Farrell 05:03 - Jane Wyman 06:08 - Lola Lane 07:57 - Outro
The fictional female reporter, Torchy Blane, paved the way for Lois Lane long before Clark Kent's girlfriend was a household name. Torchy was the main protagonist in nine 60-minute B-films produced by Warner Brothers between the years of 1937 and 1939.
Pre-World War II, the role of a newspaper reporter was one of the only in American cinema that actually portrayed women as equal to men. Torchy Blane was a wisecracking reporter with an instinct for always getting the scoop, but she also solved crimes and caused trouble for her detective boyfriend in this popular series of films.
The Torchy film's plotlines typically saw the audacious, fast-talking Torchy getting to the bottom of a mystery by staying several steps ahead of her gruff, no-nonsense police detective boyfriend Steve McBride. While McBride would frequently get frustrated with Torchy for what he saw as getting in the way, by the end of the film, he would always have a newfound respect for her. Ultimately, this resulted in him proposing to her shortly before the credits would roll.
Throughout the nine Torchy Blane films, three actresses played the sharp-witted, crime-fighting character. Glenda Farrell, Lola Lane, and Jane Wyman all took stabs at playing Torchy but Farrell is the one that most audiences are probably most familiar with, seeing as how she played the amateur sleuth in a total of seven films.
Although they each left behind a lasting legacy, the Torchy Blane actresses are all unfortunately no longer with us. Watch this video to learn more about their lives and careers and how each actress met their tragic end.
The Tragic End of All of the Torchy Blane Actresses
By: Facts Verse Title: The Tragic End of All of the Torchy Blane Actresses Sourced From: www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2vXL_dWEZQ
