User reviews

This low-budget little crime thriller actually turned out to be better than I thought it would be. Cagney-like Michael O'Shea plays a federal investigator who goes undercover to expose a crime ring that gets undeserving prisoners paroled in its care, resulting in a crime wave that's wracking the city. O'Shea is quite good as the feisty agent posing as a convict on the lam, and Turhan Bey is fine as a slick, villainous lawyer. The script by "B" veterans Sherman Lowe and Royal Cole is serviceable if predictable, and some of the supporting performances are weak, but little-known director Alfred Zeisler keeps things moving along, although a little raggedly. All in all, a pretty good example of the low-budget independent "B" thriller of the late '40s. Worth a watch.

Though low-budget and rather predictable, "Parole, Inc." is a fairly good crime story. It moves reasonably quickly, and keeps the viewer's attention most of the time.

Hendricks (Michael O'Shea) is a federal agent investigating widespread abuses of the parole system. Several dangerous criminals have received unjustified paroles, and evidence points to an organized system of bribery. Agent Hendricks has to go undercover and win the confidence of the gang involved. O'Shea does a creditable job in the lead. Turhan Bey plays a suave lawyer who figures in the agent's investigation.

The story that follows is generally predictable, without any real twists or surprises. But it is done well enough to be fairly interesting, is moderately fast-paced, and is usually believable. The characters are mostly stereotypes, but are not overdone.

Overall, this is a watchable movie that should hold some interest for fans of crime films.

Somewhat Intriguing Premise is Held Back by Skimpy Budget, Stiff Exposition, and Talky Script.

The Cast including Evelyn Ankers, and Turhan Bay of Universal Horror Fame with a Spritely Lead Michael O'Shea Talking and Taking Us Through the Story of Parole Corruption via Flashback from a Hospital Bed.

In Fact He is so Bandaged Up and obviously Mangled that it is a bit of a Mystery how He Survived the Ordeal and Foreshadows the Brutal Ending.

There are a Few Times the Movie comes to Life but the Therebetween is Plodding and Gabby. Worth a Watch but those Looking for Film-Noir need Go Elsewhere.

Some shoddy editing prevents me from giving this noir film from that across the pond studio Eagle-Lion a better rating. Parole Inc. tells the story of the federal government's effort to smash a parole fixing racket and how FBI man Michael O'Shea working undercover as a recently paroled criminal himself makes a connection to get his partner free.

Heading this whole racket is a very smooth attorney played by Turhan Bey and his moll Evelyn Ankers. Bey is nobody's fool and he suspects O'Shea from the beginning.

What's best about Parole Inc. is O'Shea is out there without much of a lifeline and has to rely on his wits to survive. A lot like Marlon Brando in one of my favorite Brando films Morituri. We know he does survive because he narrates the film from his hospital bed using a Dictaphone. Does spoil the suspense somewhat.

Who else survives and how O'Shea breaks the racket. Watch Parole Inc.

Filmed by a Poverty Row studio with a largely unknown cast, augmented by former Universal stalwarts Evelyn Ankers and Turhan Bey, PAROLE INC., is a good example of a so-called "problem picture" designed to draw attention to one of the iniquities blighting late Forties American society.

In this case it is the corrupt parole system whereby habitual criminals are let out of jail on the promise of reform and promptly resume their nefarious habits. This is chiefly due to a corrupt system headed by lawyer Barney Rodescu (Turhan Bey), who bribes two of the five- person Parole Board to vote in the prisoners' favor while trusting in the Board's ability to return positive verdicts.

Intrepid federal agent Hendricks (Michael O'Shea) volunteers to expose this racket by posing as a master criminal, infiltrating the racket at its lowest level and discovering how it works. He frequents The Pastime Club, a seedy joint run by Barney's fiancée Jojo (Ankers), and peopled by a clutch of hoodlums all in baggy suits and snap-brimmed hats. The rest of the story is predictable.

For an action thriller PAROLE INC. is remarkably static with too much time devoted to lengthy voice-overs from Hendricks as he tells what happened to a tape recorder from his hospital bed. The two nominal stars do what they can with the material: Bey looks immaculate in his tailored suits, but shows a tendency towards sadism, even though he assaults no one. He has a good line in dialogue delivery, describing one of his unfortunate minions as "a jackass," and vowing to get rid of any double-dealers daring to cross him.

On the whole, however, Alfred Zeisler's B-Movie is rather too moral for its own good, even though it dramatizes a scenario common to late Forties movies, suggesting that corruption is so rife in American institutions that no one knows how to separate friends from enemies.

There have been a lot of paroles. The board is corrupt. O'Shea is sent to infiltrate those suspected of being on the take. He is able to sweet talk his way into the confidences of the ring, but eventually, he must face the real leader, played by Turhan Bay (What a name). Anyway, the plot thickens and one of his confidantes gets killed. It bothers me a bit that even though the guy was a criminal, he had a nice human quality to him. There is some slipshod police work and O'Shea, who looks a little like the mummy in a hospital room, narrates into a giant microphone, telling what happened. I guess a movie in the forties isn't going to have anyone think that the good guys are vulnerable, though he does take quite a beating. This is one of those little films that one barely pays any attention to.

There's nothing like a movie made in the 40s. There is a simplicity of perspective that is utterly refreshing when compared to the rubbish that passes for entertainment these days. The entire cast is excellent, the plot clean and easy to understand. Well before the half point of the film, I was rooting for the undercover agent to succeed. I like the fact that the crooks were't so smarmy as to be stereotypes. They were rotters but somehow still seemed human. The end of the film has a strong build up. I really enjoyed this forgotten movie. I wonder how many other B movies are so good. Working my way down IMDb list of available films online, I may soon know.

It's a talkie movie that is watchable.

Not a great film.

One of these low budget moral films made in the 40s and 50s.

Some familiar character actors in it.

Don't expect any suspense.

When several notorious criminals are unjustifiably released on parole, the Federal Government smells a rat and sends ace agent Richard Hendricks to investigate.

Hendricks infiltrates the gang, responsible for the parole racket by posing as a much-wanted convict Rick Carson.

However, the wily Barney Rodescu, who is the brain behind the racket, soon finds out Carson's true identity. Carson's life is now in grave danger.

Lively actor O'Shea manages to give a lift to this otherwise routine programmer. For some reason these 'undercover' crime films were popular at the time, maybe because of the built-in suspense of being found out by the gangsters. Anyhow, Hendricks (O'Shea) manages to infiltrate a gang that sells paroles to imprisoned convicts. Heading up the gang, in a twist, is the lovely Evelyn Ankers, otherwise known as the queen of scream for her many horror movie roles. Making a belated appearance as the gang's attorney is the sleekly swarthy Turhan Bey (Rodescu).

I'm not sure why the narrative is told in flashback from Hendricks' hospital bed. Maybe to assure audiences that whatever the dangers, he survives. I wish there were something especially noteworthy about this exercise. There may not be, but the movie's smoothly done, surprisingly so for tightly budgeted independent production (Orbit Productions). Okay as a harmless time passer.

Made in a perfunctory manner, to get the job done but not really to shine. A fine plot that could have been a classic in the right hands with the right budget is carried out competently enough, so "Parole, Inc." kept me interested. Everything moves briskly along.

Talented actors including the charismatic Ms. Ankers go through their work with professionalism but don't have anything to work with character-wise. In fact, the big flaw here is total absence of character development. Who are these characters and what makes them tick- I guess we weren't meant to wonder such things.

Skilled acting and a good amount of plot-driven tension are adequate to carry this film despite lacking any depth or style, and with only average direction, editing etc.

Its OK but there are many better crime films of the era.

I really didn't expect much from this film, I thought it would be a cute film since Turhan Bey and Evelyn Ankers was in it but I never thought it would be as serious and good of a film as it turned out to be.

Lyle Talbot is FBI agent Richard Hendricks- one of the Feds. He out to bust a parole ring. It's up to Hendricks alone to keep from getting caught as he is surrounded by a gang of criminals while trying to find out how they are doing it, which gang members are involved and which parole board members are involved.

The film actually engrossed me from the very start - there are a couple of cute moments as the film is in it's conclusion but it is a drama - a good crime drama.

8/10

In an unnamed state, something has gone wrong with the parole process. Prisoners are getting out and disappearing, probably back to a life of crime. The FBI helps out by sending agent Michael O'Shea i to star as a clumsily backgrounded ex-con to discover te criminal ring that is getting prisoners out on parole for money, eve though each of the two parole hearings makes it abundantly clear who's on the take.

Besides the fixable problems with the script, O'Shea seems to be having problems with his line readings in the first half of the movie, and the camera seems nailed to the floor. Given that DP Gilbert Warrenton did some great work i the late silent era before getting stuck in the Bs when sound came in, I can only conclude that the budget could not afford any frills; even obvious fight scenes are avoided, and as a substitute, a decent amount of scene cutting tries to pick up the pace. It doesn't quite work, giving the the movie the visual quality of a well-preserved early talkie. A decent cast, including Evelyn Ankers, Turhan Bey, and Bess Flowers -- who even gets a line -- doesn't help to make this a poor time-waster.

I have never heard of the director, nor the actors and I don't think I will remind them more after watching this movie. It is a smooth and a bit lousy crime film noir from the late forties. I have nearly forgotten what it is about, because there is really nothing exceptional here. Lots of talk, a bit of action, and that's all. But I admit that the basic plot is rather unusual. Unfortunately that doesn't save the whole. I was bored and I resumed the viewing because the copy was a good quality one. There were hundreds of movies like this and, believe me, it is really difficult to find something worth which emerge from this mass. PAROLE INC did not make it, for me.