Les Filles du service secret

As usual for director William Berke, who had been producing and/or directing low-budget crime, action, and western films since the mid-30s, FBI Girl creates a nice hard-boiled feel, moves quickly, and still plays well today. It's the story of a crooked governor who tries, with the help of his evil henchman Raymond Burr (always convincing as a sadistic heavy!), to cover his criminal activities decades before by having a set of fingerprints stolen from FBI headquarters, fingerprints that would establish his true identity. Ace FBI agent Cesar Romero (who also intrudes once or twice with narration) discovers a few details that don't add up in a seemingly unrelated case, and the plot takes off from there. The strong cast--Burr, Romero, George Brent, Audrey Totter, Tom Drake-- helps a lot, and overall it's a solid "B"-programmer from the underrated Lippert Pictures. There's also a strange sequence where some of the characters are watching the comedy team of Tommy Noonan (of Promises, Promises fame) and Peter Marshall (of Hollywood Squares fame) perform on television! That's a novel way of working them into the film (usually there would be a scene where the characters go to a nightclub; however, this was no doubt cheaper to film than a nightclub scene). Recommended for fans of post-war crime films and early Television police shows. By the way, the scene depicted on the movie poster-- of Audrey Totter standing seductively wearing a form-fitting outfit with a slit up the side and holding a gun--appears nowhere in the film (she's not an agent, but a clerk, and certainly would not be holding a gun!), but it looks great!

Starting with its vistas of Washington, D.C. and one of those damned anthems, FBI Girl looks like another patriotic pageant ad majorem gloriam J. Edgar Hoover. But happily it runs low on idolatry and long on plot, and it turns out to be not only fun but a wee bit irreverent in spots, too.

Its opening gambit proves a bit of a stretch. In Capitol City in a nearby state, venerable Governor Raymond Greenleaf plans a run for the Senate. But if a federal investigating committee takes his fingerprints, his past identity as (what else?) a convicted murderer will come to light. He goes to his shadowy boss (who else?) Raymond Burr, a slick PR man who pulls filthy strings. Burr arranges for a young woman working in the Bureau to pull the incriminating file, after which she's ruthlessly rubbed out. In come unlikely agents Cesar Romero and George Brent to probe the mysterious murder; they enlist the aid of Audrey Totter, another clerk in the same department. But there's another twist: Totter's fiancé (Tom Drake), an ambitious young lobbyist, has close ties to Burr's organization....

Bizarre touches abound that seem inadvertent but together add up to a faintly subversive thread running through the movie. In an era when even long-married couples slumbered in chaste twin beds, two of Totter's roommates share a double (they seem dim-witted, as well, as do most of the low-level FBI personnel encountered). Later, these two blondes entertain Romero, who's waiting for Totter to return; they watch television, and we watch with them, as comics Tommy Noonan and Peter Marshall perform an extended routine. Now and again, the script hones a line to a sharp edge: When one of his henchmen tells Burr not to worry because when he was on the lam in Georgia, even the bloodhounds couldn't catch him, Burr purrs, `You've a stronger smell about you today.'

FBI Girl boasts a strong cast and a good plot, and it manages to rise a few rungs above most of the other cheap crime-documentary titles of its era. Its most arresting aspect lies in sketching the avaricious and powerful culture of lobbyists and spin-meisters that was starting to coalesce in the nation's capital and becoming, in effect a shadow government. Boy, oh boy – doesn't THAT date the movie.

A Kefauver type racketeering Senate investigating committee is taking itself on the road for local hearings and that is of great concern to Governor Raymond Greenleaf. It seems as though way back in his youth and under a different name he committed a murder and if the committee uncovers any wrong doing he could be charged with its more than a stretch in Club Fed. That's because when he would be arrested and printed his prints would be on file with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.

Of course the state racketeering boss Raymond Burr has a lot invested in Greenleaf and he's not about to see his investment get flushed down the toilet. He hatches a scheme to get the fingerprint card out of J. Edgar Hoover's closely guarded files. It involves getting to one of the clerks in the Justice Department, Margia Dean through her brother, Don Garner. And when that doesn't work Burr tries to use another clerk Audrey Totter who is our FBI Girl.

I have to say that with that title alone I was expecting some paranoid Cold War story. So I was pleasantly surprised when FBI Girl turned out to be a nice noir thriller. It came from the Poverty Row studio of Lippert Productions, but not bad considering the source.

Caesar Romero and George Brent play the two agents on this case and Romero provides the narration for the film. The two agents are all business and the plot follows a straight line narrative to the source of their problems. Greenleaf may have been governor, but Burr is calling all the shots and his rackets have a big investment in keeping their see no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil governor in office. And he's being talked about for even higher office. And as the state boss Burr outshines everyone in the cast.

Try to catch this one when broadcast and don't be put off by the title, it's better than you think.

This is a pretty good moderate budget Noir film. While it was produced by small-time Lippert Productions, it did have some relatively well-known names. The lead FBI agent was played by Cesar Romero and in a supporting role was George Brent. This was quite a change for Brent, as in the 30s and much of the 40s, he was a star. Here, his role is relatively forgettable--Romero is definitely "the man". In addition, Audrey Trotter plays a significant role in the film. However, although these three were bigger names at the time, the most important and interesting part in the picture was played by Raymond Burr. This was long before he gained fame from television, during the late 40s and 50s he was a perennial supporting heavy in Noir films. Here, however, his role is bigger and more interesting that ones he played in such Noir classics as BORDERLINE, HIS KIND OF WOMAN, DESPERATE and RAW DEAL. That's because instead of just another thug taking orders, here he is the schemer who makes all the decisions. And, when need be, he's tough as nails and ruthless--such as when he smacks Trotter around when she doesn't give him what he wants! The plot of the film is rather timely, as crooked politicians aren't exactly an unknown concept these days. The governor of a state (which one is never mentioned) is afraid because he's actually wanted for murder under another name for a crime he committed many years ago. With plans for running for the Senate, he's naturally worried that his true identity will come to light. So, it's up to his "fix-it man", Burr, to infiltrate the FBI and destroy his record. However, the Bureau finds out that someone did the theft but aren't sure whose record was stolen or why. So it's up to Romero and Brent to investigate--and investigation that eventually leads them to Trotter.

The film is very high on realism though relatively low on excitement. While there are some very sensational moments (especially the cool ending with Romero and his Tommy Gun), the film is much less concerned with way-out Noir sensibilities (such as camera angles and snappy dialog) and more on the realistic portrayal of procedures. In some ways, this is rather reminiscent of the radio and TV show "Dragnet" in mood and structure and that results in a very watchable and interesting film made even more so by Burr's exceptional performance.

Raymond Greenleaf is the governor of a generic state. He wants to run for senator, but he has a secret. He's an escaped criminal, and a campaign of that order will reveal it. So machine fixer Raymond Burr applies pressure and gets a girl in the FBI's fingerprint file to remove his card. Burr arranges for everyone else down the line to wind up dead.

The FBI won't stand for its own personnel being killed. They get a line on the original name on the file and assign agents Cesar Romero and George Brent to the case.

There are some fine actors in this, including Audrey Totter in a good-girl role (alas, she's far more interesting in her evil roles in noirs). Other well-known players include Joi Lansing, Byron Foulger, Marie Blake (grandma in THE ADDAMS FAMILY) and O. Z. Whitehead. Under-rated B cinematographer Jack Greenhalgh gets a fine night-time river pursuit, and William Berke directs the film with a nice arc of excitement.

The Lippert organization was not known for producing great movies. They had a chain of theaters, and with the slowdown in post-war B production, they used their connections to set up a releasing organization, including some Korda films, and began their own production with talent fallen on hard times. Although none of their approximately 150 movies, most produced between 1948 and the mid-1950s, can be considered great films, they showcased interesting talent. This is one of their best.