Women in Hiding

Women in Hiding (1940)

*** 1/2 (out of 4)

29th film in MGM's "Crime Does Not Pay" series takes a look at illegal hospitals offering cheap service to expecting mothers who are afraid to go to a real hospital because of shame. These hospitals can lead to the death of the mother, death of the baby and often offer illegal adoptions. This is the third or four film I've seen in the series and all of them have been highly entertaining. The documentary style storyline gets the message across without being overly preachy and the direction is above average for this type of film.

Marsha Hunt and Jane Drummond are law-breakers as well as victims in this episode of MGM's long-running CRIME DOES NOT PAY series. They are women having their babies without husbands, or anyone to help them in their times of need.

they're certainly not made up to be glamorous in this short subject from Hollywood's most glamorous movie factory. Miss Hunt is skinny and gawky. Miss Drummond looks like a fresh-faced farm girl. However, the doctors who help them out -- in return for all the money the girls can raise, plus working at the facilities -- are also in the business of selling those babies to couples who want to adopt for $500. It's a "contribution to our baby fund" they are told. Miss Hunt emotes up a storm when she finds out that her baby has been adopted from under her nose.

The characters fall into easily recognized types. There's C,. Henry Gordon as the slick-looking but larcenous senior doctor -- never trust a man with a scar. Charles Middleton is certainly cast against his recognized type. He's no Emperor Ming of Mongo in this one, but a homely and loving father.

I'm uncertain of how widespread a problem baby-farming was, but this movie will certainly pull the heartstrings of every parent in the audience.

MGM's Crime Does Not Pay series of shorts was pretty good. This one stars a young and very pretty Marsha Hunt. Marsha plays Jane Taylor, a single woman who enters a clinic to give birth. The clinic preys on women who want to give birth discreetly. They trick them into signing away their rights, then sell the babies to couples looking to adopt. Hunt is terrific and is a prime example of why these MGM short films were so good. Quality actors played in these shorts. The two evil doctors were played by veteran actors C. Henry Gordon and Granville Bates. Both are excellent in their slimy parts. This is pretty realistic and gritty subject matter to see in a short from 1940. Especially from a studio known more for glamour than grit.

The MGM of the late '30s and early '40s was a well-oiled machine, cautious from top to bottom, and well-rewarded for that caution by moviegoers. This also applied to their short films, which could easily veer toward a canned message (as most of the Our Gang films in the MGM era show).

Women in Hiding is an unusually raw product underneath the gloss. We hear in unflinching terms about the injuries suffered by the babies treated as cattle by corrupt quacks. We see with our own eyes the physical and psychological toll that the mothers go through. And these mothers turn familiar tropes on their heads.

Mary Bovard (who seemed to go on to mostly small roles, sadly) is Mary, the toughest of the women, the one we may be primed by the narrative to feel the least sympathy for, compared to the everywoman lead Jane and sweet Bunny. Yet she is the one who first breaks our hearts as she has doubts over what she's gotten into, and pays the ultimate price for the cruel games of the baby sellers. The director does a wonderful job making us feel the horror and pain of what happens to her while only letting us see a brief glimpse. Less really is often more in these types of short cautionary tales.

Jane Drummond, who also seemed consigned to nonexistent roles after this short, plays sweet, lighthearted Bunny, too innocent for the world she's in. Her fate is no less heartbreaking, and equally subdued in just the right ways.

Marsha Hunt is Jane, our ingenue, our eyes. Hunt gives the character a believability that is perfect for the era and for the tone of the piece. We know that this is not a "happy" ending for Jane, and that she will likely never be the same again. Most impressive of all, Jane isn't saved by a man or waiting for a man to find her. She does everything she can to get out and manages to do it.

Many short subjects feel dated the minute they are released, much less 75 years later, but the basic message of this story - young, vulnerable women who lack support and are made to feel shame will be destroyed by the bottom feeders of society - is more important than ever.

Marsha Hunt, a famous supporting actress of the 1930's and 40's appeared in many films. In this film, "Women in Hiding" she portrays a young women who wants to save her baby but is afraid of telling her parents and has no money to even pay the hospital costs involved. She falls prey to a baby for sale racket with quack doctors performing their services. All the actors and actresses who made this film possible never realized it would have a lasting message to all young women who are having a child and need financial help, to seek assistance from the people who love them and to their professional State Social Services facilities.