Movie Review: Girls in Chains (1943)
Synopsis: Helen Martin is a good teacher, but that isn't enough to save her job when people learn she is the sister-in-law of Johnny Moon, a notorious gangster. When she is offered a teaching job at a women's reformatory, Helen is reluctant to accept it. She changes her mind, however, when she learns the school is secretly run by Moon and she has the opportunity to help political reformer Frank Donovan gather evidence against her brother-in-law, put him in prison and get her sister away from him. That opportunity is fraught with danger, however.
Who's in it? The movie stars Arline Judge, Roger Clark, Robin Raymond, Jack Randall and Dorothy Burgess.
Review: I didn't know what to expect when I started watching Girls in Chains this morning because the description didn't give a whole lot of detail. I still gave it a try and can honestly say it turned out to be a good choice.
Helen (Judge) was an intriguing character. She was righteous and, even though her primary reason for being at the reformatory was to bring down her brother-in-law (Randall), it was clear she truly cared for the young women. Some of the advice she gave them was admittedly dated, such as her basically telling Rita (Raymond) all she needed was to be a wife to a good man, but it had a real impact in what otherwise was a seemingly impossible situation with literally every other person in the school being against her.
What really impressed me though was Johnny. Movies like this are only as good as the main villain and I thought he was a solid one. He was ruthless, cunning and had enough connections to stay one step ahead of the law even though just about everyone knew what he was. Since he controlled the school, it was also easy for him to get rid of any witnesses that might give Helen their testimony against him. I also like how he was the kind of villain who wasn't afraid to get his hands dirty instead of just relying on one of his henchmen.
The movie also does a good job keeping things from getting too dark with some well-timed comedy courtesy of Lionel Cleeter (Emmett Lynn) the formerly respectable gentleman who quickly turns into the town drunk. He also proved to be a fun wildcard in the film, someone who despite his inebriated state, seemed like he could be the one to uncover a key clue or give a surprisingly great piece of advice if he didn't get himself killed first.
My only real complaint about the movie is, like many from this era, the ending did seem to be a bit rushed, with a whole bunch of stuff crammed into the last few minutes. It's not a very long movie, just a bit more than an hour, so it wouldn't have hurt to tack on an additional five minutes to allow for that to play out in a way that maybe offered a bit more suspense and did justice to the rest of the film.
Final Opinion: This is a good movie with a strong female protagonist and a solid, cunning villain. It's worth taking the time to watch.
My Grade: A
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Here are some reviews of other movies from 1943:
Movie Review: The Seventh Victim (1943)
Movie Review: The Leopard Man (1943)
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