Take a look at the 15 movies you'll be hearing about in fall 2024.

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Take a look at the 15 movies you&#39;ll be hearing about in fall 2024.

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This expose of the U.S. parole system, as seen through the eyes of FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, takes dead aim on lawyers who manipulate the justice system in order to get undeserving convicts parole from prisons. The point is made when FBI agents Scott Britton (William Henry) and Ross Waring (Lyle Talbot) are assigned to track down "Big Boy" Bradmore (Anthony Quinn), who after getting an undeserved parole, via the efforts of a shyster lawyer, promptly murders an FBI agent.

Virginia Dale, Richard Denning, William Henry, and Robert Paige in Parole Fixer (1940)

"They aren't giving paroles away with chewing gum."

A realistic view of what happens when certain legal entities are infiltrated by organized crime.

Fine B crime picture, one of several films based on stories in J. Edgar Hoover&#39;s book Persons in Hiding. I haven&#39;t read the book but I have seen all of the movies. Sounds like a real page turner. In this one, a gangster (Anthony Quinn) is set free on parole due to some shenanigans with a member of the parole board who is on the take. Directed by Robert Florey, it&#39;s a fast-paced quickie, clocking in at just under an hour. The cast is full of recognizable faces like Jack Carson, Richard Denning, Lyle Talbot, Robert Paige, and Fay Helm, among others. Quinn gives a good turn as the irredeemable killer. Definitely worth a look. A nice time-passer.

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Parole Fixer

This is a very violent and gritty crime film based on true stories from J. Edgar Hoover&#39;s FBI files, well acted and consistently exciting. Anthony Quinn has been paroled and immediately proves his worth as a decent citizen by killing someone. Now that he&#39;s out of jail, organized crime Boss Paul McGrath takes us as an opportunity to get other crime figures out of prison and the FBI must do all they can to prevent that from happening even though do-gooders in society like wealthy Marjorie Gateson go out of their way to support the parole of people who don&#39;t deserve it. A terrific cast led by William Henry, Virginia Dale, Robert Paige and Richard Denning along with a great screenplay helps this story unfold. Louise Beavers is fabulous as the cook whose fried chicken is world famous, and her lovable nature just pours off the screen. Great character actors like Charles Lane, Harvey Stephens and Gertrude Michael also have memorable parts. The &quot;Persons in Hiding&quot; series was one of my favorite crime drama anthology, and it&#39;s a shame that Paramount didn&#39;t do more. This film never lets up in action and excitement, and at just an hour flies by.

I am surprised that no one has commented it yet. After all, it&#39;s a Robert Florey&#39;s film, the guy who gave us already some B movies from Paramount Studios, the famous ones I talk sometimes about, starring J Caroll Naish, Loyd Nolan, Anthony Quinn. Very quick and fast paced crime flicks, as Warner ones were. The story was written by J Edgard Hoover, the famous FBI director for fifty years, and also by Horace MacCoy. It could have been a sort of expose, especially when we watch the beginning of this feature, but there is no off voice, as we could expect. Anthony Quinn plays here a ruthless gangster on parole who kills a cop and participates at a kidnapping. This film also speaks about the problem of hard boiled criminals to whom the justice gives a chance of redemption. I guess that was the message of this film.

User reviews

Parole Fixer

"They aren't giving paroles away with chewing gum."

A realistic view of what happens when certain legal entities are infiltrated by organized crime.

An efficient Robert Florey gem

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