Now THIS pre-Code movie is a clear and courageous accusation of the wrongs in American society in the early 30s if ever there was one: a DIRECT attack on the 'famous' Vice Squad and its methods for bringing as many 'party girls' (a euphemism for prostitutes) to 'justice' in order to protect American morals. It doesn't hesitate to depict their way of 'working' in detail: they pick men in need, or in trouble with the law, as stool pigeons to trap the unsuspecting girls and catch them 'in flagranti' - in this case, the forced stool pigeon is a former member of a foreign embassy, who got innocently involved in a murder case; and for two years, he's being used by the ruthless police captain to ruin the lives of countless girls, until he literally can't look at himself in the mirror anymore, becomes an alcoholic, and attempts suicide. He's saved by a nice, innocent young girl - but very soon, she becomes a target of the 'Vice Squad' as well; and only he can save her reputation, by telling the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth...
With the help of an excellent cast and a first-class script and direction, "Vice Squad" became one of the VERY few movies (and of course, it would under NO circumstances have been granted a seal three years later) that OPENLY, and in NO way humorously, accuses the police methods as well as the overall social odds during the first years of the Great Depression; it will forever remain a time document for everyone to see - just in case history books might be altered over the years and the social evils of the era should be 'whitewashed'...
