Where Is Jane Doe?

Where Is Jane Doe? (1956)

** (out of 4)

RKO-Pathe short has the NYPD finding some clothes on a bridge so they naturally think they're dealing with suicide. A detective from the Missing Persons Bureau begins to investigate and finds that there might be more to the story. This crime short is a long way from MGM's wonderful "Crime Does Not Pay" series. Even though this film runs under 9-minutes you can't help but feel the story is rushed to the point where you just have to roll your eyes. There are countless silly scenes here including the detective pretty much breaking the case when it turns out the victim was too ugly to be doing what she wanted. The entire film is silent with just the narration telling us what we can see with our own eyes and some of the written dialogue is just downright silly. Fans of camp will probably get a few laughs out of this thing though.

In this "RKO-Pathe Screenliner" short, a policeman finds discarded clothing atop one of New York City's bridges. As it is often the case, suicide is suspected; "more than 200 bodies" are found in the city's harbors per year, according to writer Frances Dinsmoor's script. The bureau of missing persons is contacted, and the clothing matches a 16-year-old "Jane Doe" who recently left a troubled home. Investigating the young woman's school life finds a bad student who left evidence suggesting she wanted to pursue a glamorous modeling career. Detectives think the suicide attempt may be a hoax. Modeling agencies who prey on gullible girls are investigated. Police artists identify their "Jane Doe" by retouching beautiful photographs to the original homely women. The question "Where Is Jane Doe?" is answered with a shock...

**** Where Is Jane Doe? (1956) Frances Dinsmoor, Larry O'Reilly ~ Jane Doe, Bob Hite, Alexander Lockwood

This RKO-Pathe Streamliner covers the case of a pile of clothes found on a bridge. The authorities begin an investigation into what looks like a probable suicide.

It's a dull little story about a routine investigation covering some of the details in such a case. Its dullness is probably deliberate, a sort of "just the facts" investigation. Still, it has some interest for its shots of some of the seamier sites in the Big Apple.

RKO-PATHE presents a police case in NYC. A beat cop finds some cloths and assumes someone has jumped off a bridge. Police detective Captain Cronin connects it to a case of a missing 16 year old girl. She had trouble in school and at home. However, he does not suspect a suicide. The girl is a plain Jane but evidence suggests that she had runaway to be a model. Cronin finds her broke, alone, and trying to commit suicide by taking sleeping pills in her rundown apartment in a poor neighborhood. The movie claims that the Missing Persons Bureau solves 98% of all disappearances.

I am not sure what the purpose or the origins of this short or where this was shown. It's either police propaganda or a misplaced after-school special. The 98% solve rate seems to suggest propaganda. There is a little bit of police work being shown but this is in no way about forensics. The aversion to modeling is more indicative of the era and adorably passé. This is an old fashion informational short.

I have to agree with another commentator that this is a rather pointless RKO Pathe short about a missing girl whose suicide is prevented by good detective work as they search through model photos.

A police artist is assigned to get through the make-up and alter the studio portrait image into a less glamorous creature resembling one of the candid photos they have of a particular girl. He does such an effective job that a detective is put on the trail and discovers the girl at a rundown motel after a suicide attempt is foiled.

The eight minute short really doesn't have anything but an obvious statement to make about the usefulness of police artists, but has little commentary to make on the girl's plight or her situation in a city of millions.