Tonight's Movie: Women From Headquarters (1950)
WOMEN FROM HEADQUARTERS (1950) stars Virginia Huston as a dedicated Los Angeles policewoman.Huston plays Joyce Harper, who was in the service during WWII and has been dissatisfied with secretarial jobs since the war's end. Joyce meets Policewoman Ann Rogers (Frances Charles) when Ann brings Joyce's roommate Ruby (Barbra Fuller) home from a bar, and Ann encourages Joyce to apply for police work.
Joyce quickly racks up a series of successful busts, while dating her partner (Robert Rockwell). And that's pretty much the movie, over and done in an hour flat.
Huston's mellow demeanor fits perfectly in OUT OF THE PAST, where she remains calm and understanding as she learns about the past of her boyfriend Jeff (Robert Mitchum). Here her quiet, confident demeanor translates as more one note. Her reactions never really seem to change, regardless of circumstances, yet at the same time there's something about her which is quite watchable.
Frances Charles (seen at left) seemed familiar, yet I don't think I remember her from any of the appearances in her fairly brief screen career. Turns out she was Victor Mature's first wife, briefly married to him in the late '30s before it was annulled.Is it a good movie? Probably not, as it's weakly acted and scripted, but it's nonetheless fun. I found it an enjoyable hour, just the kind of film I like curling up with for a quick watch after a busy day. Police procedurals set in L.A., with location shots thrown in here and there, usually work for me.
The supporting cast includes Jack Kruschen, Norman Budd, Bert Conway, Grandon Rhodes, K. Elmo Lowe, Gil Herman, and Leonard Penn.
WOMEN FROM HEADQUARTERS was directed by George Blair (POST OFFICE INVESTIGATOR). It was filmed by John MacBurnie.
posted by Laura @ 4:00 PM
3 Comments:
Sounds good to me. Will watch out for it.
Hi Laura,
I think I liked this film better than you did and certainly better than Mark
over at Where Danger Lives. oddly enough Mark is a considerable fan of George
Blair.A very fair write up all the same.I really wish someone would release a set
of these Republic B Noirs- a lot of them are in great shape.
Recently saw MILLION DOLLAR PURSUIT from a streamed version-copied to disc- in
beautiful shape.MILLION DOLLAR PURSUIT is everything you want a crime B film to be
and then some!! Very nicely directed by underrated R.G.Springsteen-better known for
his Westerns-someone really should release these little gems.
This weekend in the UK Keith Richards "took over" BBC Channel 4 and presented a
wave of his personal faves-vintage Brit comedy-Hancock,Milligan-plus wonderful Tex Avery cartoons and classic Tourneur movies.
Keith also stated that he does not own a 'phone (mobile??) or a computer. He is totally against streaming and likes to "own" his records and movies-he likes to
touch,feel and even smell them......amen.
Hi Vienna and John!
I'm belatedly catching up on comments after a crazy week.
Vienna, if you get to it please let me know what you think!
John, it was a fun film, just wished for a little more from it. I'll have to catch Mark's write-up, his critiques are always interesting.
Don't know MILLION DOLLAR PURSUIT at all, just Googled to check out the cast. I agree about releasing movies like this -- I'd love more sets along the lines of VCI's Forgotten Noir with these short little crime films, they're very enjoyable.
Fun to hear what Keith Richards likes to watch. :)
Thanks to you both!
Best wishes,
Laura
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