SYNOPSICS
Parole Girl (1933) is a English movie. Edward F. Cline has directed this movie. Mae Clarke,Ralph Bellamy,Marie Prevost,Hale Hamilton are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1933. Parole Girl (1933) is considered one of the best Crime,Drama movie in India and around the world.
A desperate young woman is caught taking part in a department store extortion racket and sent to jail. When she's let out on parole, she schemes to ruin the life of the man who wouldn't give her a second chance, the man responsible for her time behind bars. Taking advantage of the man's inebriated state, the woman stages a phony marriage and, knowing of the man's estranged wife, blackmails him with bigamy charges. Forced to keep up appearances as the happily married couple until the woman's parole runs out, the man and the woman grow fonder of each other than either would dare to admit.
Parole Girl (1933) Reviews
"You're working a clever racket girly, but you got caught".
Despite the high degree improbability of it all, this turned out to be a fairly entertaining picture. Hopefully with today's offering on Turner Classics, this film might put together the requisite number of votes to get a rating on this board. It has some of the appeal found in the exploitation flicks of the same era, but with writing and direction that places it a notch above. The story involves a young woman who gets tangled up with a smarmy con man (Hale Hamilton) doing a pickpocket grift that leads to a shakedown at targeted retail stores. When Sylvia (Mae Clarke) gets busted and sent to prison for a year long stretch, she plots her revenge against the insurance adjuster who wouldn't bend the rules to let her off easy in the first place. That angle might have played out a lot more believably if one of Sylvia's prison buddies (Marie Prevost) hadn't been involved with the same guy (Ralph Bellamy) a couple of years earlier. In one of the wildest stretches of imagination, both ex-cons duped the gullible Joe Smith (seriously, not an alias) into a phony marriage. Obviously, a whole lot of thought wasn't put into this story, but that's what they came up with. Naturally, this one plays out with Smith and Sylvia hooking up together for real once they discover they have feelings for each other following a series of events that bring out their better natures. Not entirely unexpected, but again, it takes a bit of a stretch to get there. Veteran character actor Ralph Bellamy eventually went on to become a well regarded and respected performer, even though he never made it as a major headliner. Mae Clark is probably best known for taking a grapefruit in the kisser from Jimmy Cagney in 1931's "The Public Enemy". Their hook-up here doesn't involve too much chemistry, but considering the circumstances, that's to be expected. The thing that I kept wondering about was how a couple of ex-jailbird floozies like Sylvia and Jeanie always walked around in such fashionable clothes. Addendum dated 10/17/09: Forty eight hours ago, this film didn't have the minimum five votes needed to insure an IMDb rating, nor did it have a single review. As I write this, the film has twenty two votes and four comments. I read that as a testament to the dedication serious cinema fans apply to their entertainment, particularly as it applies to films offered on Turner Classics. I have seen a similar pattern for prior TCM offerings, and would like to thank and encourage those viewers for going the extra mile in pursuit of their passion and interest.
Love That Title!!!
It promises gritty, hard hitting pre-code earthiness and it almost delivers. Supposedly based on the story "Dance of the Millions" but, really, it is a re-working of Bayard Veiller's popular play "Within the Law". It had already been given the 4 star treatment at MGM as "Paid" (1930) with Joan Crawford. The link between the two movies is sweet Marie Prevost, who played a similar character in both - a ditsy cell mate who teams up with Mae/Joan when they are paroled. Poor Marie spent almost as much time behind bars as Sylvia Sidney. "Everything I do is on the level" to which Mae replies "Well, since you've been in prison - blackmail, larceny and extortion are now crimes"!!! It is interesting, when you view Mae Clarke's performances, she has sincerity and honesty in every part she plays but she just couldn't make the leap to the A grade. Her films were excellent "Waterloo Bridge" and "Night World" etc but by 1933 her bid for stardom was over and "Parole Girl" was described as "bottom of the barrel". It certainly wasn't that!!! While it wasn't in the same league as MGM's "Paid" - it was a perfect vehicle for Mae. Sylvia Day (Mae Clarke) is accused of picking a gentleman's pocket in a department store. She is dragged, humiliated in front of customers, to the manager's office, but it is all a misunderstanding. Then Sylvia goes into her award winning performance - she cries, she sobs and she walks out with a cheque for $500. But it is all a scam - she and the "gentleman", Tony (Hale Hamilton) are working together and while Sylvia is determined to go straight she is persuaded to do one last job. Of course they are caught and she comes up against a stony store manager, Joe Smith(Ralph Bellamy) who is not softened by her pleas for leniency. She is sent to prison for a year and after her release her only thought is to make Smith pay - and pay he does!!! After renewing his acquaintance (he doesn't know her), she gets him "cockeyed" and he wakes up next morning - married!!! Of course it is all bogus as Tony has performed the ceremony. From now on a lot of the grittiness goes and is replaced by pre- code fun as Sylvia glides around in assorted negligees. Mae Clarke does sport an unattractive "butch" hairstyle and I am glad this seems to be the only film that she chose to wear it. There are a couple of glitches to their happiness. Tony is upset that Sylvia has thrown him over and plans to get even with her by slipping a counterfeit bill in her purse but Joe, unexpectedly, comes to her rescue and they really start to fall in love. Then Joe's wife appears - yes, he is already married and to none other than Jeannie (Marie Prevost) Sylvia's little pal from the big house. But everything is smoothed out and all under 70 minutes. After all this was in 1933 when they really knew how to make movies. Highly Recommended.
No fury when a woman is loved
Mae Clarke and Ralph Bellamy have excellent chemistry in Parole Girl. But what really puts this film on the map is its ability to take a theme like revenge and make a routine prison film into something more. Here, it becomes an unlikely romance. The supporting characters enliven the proceedings. There's the friend who throws the apple out the window on the train, and the boss who comes to dinner but enjoys sitting in the kitchen. But the most interesting bit occurs earlier in the picture. It's a dramatic prison fire scene, and it is one of the best-staged action scenes this writer has viewed in a long time.
Good Movie That Could be Remade Again
I recorded this movie and watched it in the morning. It was well worth it, even though it was short and the plot is sometimes very contrived, but then again most movie plots are contrived. Mae Clark did a very good job playing a woman who is basically good but due to circumstances does not always follow the most moral path. I won't go into more but the movie was very entertaining. You can tell the movie is pre-code and that adds just enough of an edge to make it interesting. Ralph Bellamy did a good job of playing the forced upon husband. He was quite entertaining. Mr. Taylor played by Ferdinand Gottschalk was an interesting character it reminded me of the old days when having a wife and kids increased your chance of promotion at the company. Those days are gone, but it does give you an insight into what life was pre-1960's.
Entertaining Rework of 1912 Play...
PAROLE GIRL (1933) is a variation of the Girl who seeks retribution for a alleged wrong done to her. The original play WITHIN THE LAW (1912) no doubt was the source material for this screenplay. Just changed enough, to avoid being sued for plagiarism. THE NUTS; Sylvia Day (Mae Clarke) gets picked up for shop-lifting. Joe Smith (Ralph Bellamy) is not sympathetic to her problems. In fact never sees her but has flunky turn her over to the law. After serving time and out on 'Parole' she tricks Smith into marrying her to exact her revenge. Eventually pair fall in love and at the fade out REALLY get married. At 67" it is just long enough to be entertaining without taxing the audience. WITHIN THE LAW would be filmed in 1916, 1917, 1923. In 1930 it would be filmed under the title of PAID M.G.M. and star Joan Crawford. The version we are most familiar with is WITHIN THE LAW (1939) M.G.M. and would feature contract player Ruth Hussey, running 65". Last version was INTAQUAM (1969) a Shaktiman Enterprises, production of India. Though this plot-line had been used from T.V. movies too soap operas. One final note, the attractive Mae Clarke though looking very chic had the most unflattering 'butch' hairstyle to grace the 'silver screen'.