Tonight's Movie: Parole Fixer (1940)

PAROLE FIXER (1940), a Paramount crime film, is enjoyably diverting entertainment. This "B" movie provided early roles for a number of actors in a briskly told tale.

PAROLE FIXER was one of a few movies inspired by J. Edgar Hoover's book PERSONS IN HIDING (1939), which was also the name of the first movie in the series. Like PERSONS IN HIDING, PAROLE FIXER was written by William Lipman and Horace McCoy.

William Henry, Lyle Talbot, and Jack Carson play "G" men; when one of the men is gunned down by paroled ex-con Big Boy Bradmore (a scary Anthony Quinn), the other two work to bring Big Boy in.

Bradmore and another ex-con, Steven Eddson (Robert Paige, CAN'T HELP SINGING), need money and arrange the kidnapping for ransom of wealthy Enid (Virginia Dale, HOLIDAY INN) and her fiance Bruce (a young Richard Denning, CREATURE FROM THE BLACK LAGOON). Enid's well-meaning but flighty socialite mother (Marjorie Gateson) has been an innocent part of a plot to parole men from prison who have no intention of changing their ways.

Solving the kidnapping will also lead the FBI men to the killer, and the race is on!

I really enjoyed this quick-moving film. (IMDb lists the running time as 68 minutes; the version I saw was slightly shorter.) A lot of the fun is in picking out faces in the cast; for instance, in a single scene at a florist's stand you've got great character actors such as Byron Foulger, Charles Lane, and Doodles Weaver.

The young switchboard operator is Janet Waldo -- the voice of Judy Jetson of THE JETSONS, who is still with us today; she turns 91 in a couple of weeks.

Jack Carson and Fay Helm's cook, Aunt Lindy, is played by Louise Beavers of HOLIDAY INN -- which also provided a starring role for Virginia Dale, the ingenue in this film.

PAROLE FIXER was directed by Robert Florey and filmed by Harry Fischbeck. There is one notably shocking scene for a "B" film in which the evil Quinn has a run-in with a pot of hot coffee, thanks to brave Virginia Dale -- many years before a similar moment in THE BIG HEAT (1953)! That and the overall violent tone might explain why at least one lobby card says "Not Suitable for General Exhibition."

Having enjoyed PAROLE FIXER and PERSONS IN HIDING so much, I'd love to see the other two films in the series, UNDERCOVER DOCTOR (1939), starring Lloyd Nolan, and QUEEN OF THE MOB (1940) starring Ralph Bellamy. Fun stuff.