Hold That Woman!

Originally titled SKIP TRACER. this very entertaining, briskly paced comedy adventure features James Dunn, cast as Jimmy Parker, an agent for Skip Tracers, Ltd., who with his girl friend Mary (Dunn's real life wife Frances Gifford) find themselves embroiled in the midst of a burglary case concerning diamonds stolen from a movie star, bringing about their being arrested, shot at and chased by the thieves, yet finding opportunity to be wed and set up housekeeping, all during one frenetic day, thanks to a snappily penned script that neatly ties together disparate plot elements. A small budgeted production from producer Sigmund Newfield's PRC studio, the work is ably directed by his brother Sam, an old hand at such poverty row action pieces, assisted here as often by Holbrook Todd, editor, and cameraman Jack Greenhalgh who is accustomed to thinking quickly for this type of film, the trio joining to create smooth montage effects. That aspect of acting called "business", prominent from the 1930s into the 1950s, particularly in U.S. cinema, benefits this production, especially that employed by Dunn (who ad libs effectively) in conjunction with beautiful Gifford whose natural graces earn for the future star of serials the acting laurels here, although her native athleticism is sublimated for her role, while able turns are to be appreciated from Rita LaRoy, Paul Boyar and George Douglas as members of the gem thieving gang, and from Dave O'Brien as a skip tracer in competition with Parker. The DVD release from Alpha offers adequate sight and sound, with no extras.

Lively PRC action flick revolving around stolen jewels and two skip-tracing agents trying to recover a portable radio, of all things. All in all, it's a light touch all the way through, as much for amusement as suspense. I guess you have to be a geezer like me to recall how important radios were back in the movie's 1940's. Instead of families splitting up into cell phone users or computer live-streaming, folks gathered around radios for evening entertainment. It was good for the imagination if not for spectacle.

Lead actor Dunn really bounces around, maybe too much, while trying to recover the modest radio after the owner's non-payment. Plus, he's got to compete with premier skip-tracer Dave O'Brien who's on break from his usual six-guns and saddles. Then too why are gangsters so interested in getting hold of that same radio, come heck or high water. There has to be something special about it, but what?

Up to then, I'd never heard of 'skip-tracers' but now I know they're agents privately employed to track down deadbeats. Anyway, the plot's pretty crowded so you may need a scorecard to keep track. Nonetheless, the pacing never drags, along with a delightful Frances Gifford as Dunn's sweetie. All in all, the hour amounts to another slice of easy entertainment, B-movie style, without being anything special.

I think that for today's audiences a little clarification is needed as far as terms used. James Dunn is described as 'skip tracer'. He is most definitely not someone who goes after dangerous criminals who break bail. Today what Dunn does would be better described as a Repo-Man. He just takes items bought on credit that buyers are late in paying for.

He's in some trouble at work because Dave O'Brien is the fairhaired boy of the boss because he repossesses more than the rest. And Dunn also is having woman trouble, his potential father-in-law who is a cop doesn't think he's the right sort for his daughter Frances Gifford.

But in a light and breezy paced comedy/drama Dunn gets himself an assignment to repossess a radio from Rita LeRoy who happened to stash some stolen jewels in it. She's the brains behind the mob and she's plenty smart and no one to mess with.

Dunn did this one for poverty row PRC Pictures and considering what a no frills outfit they were this one is pretty good.

The accent is on comedy capers rather than mystery and noir in this remarkably involved yet fast-paced and light-hearted gangster yarn about stolen diamonds which a sleazy blonde has hidden in a cheap portable radio.

Although this movie was made right in the middle of a down cycle in James Dunn's remarkable up-and-down movie career (he would bounce back with a vengeance in 1945 when he won universal praise for his brilliant performance under Elia Kazan's tutelage in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn), it's quite an entertaining little offering, despite the actor's haggard appearance in some shots. It's also of interest to see the lovely Frances Gifford (Dunn's wife at the time) and a fine collection of support oddballs including Dave O'Brien and Rita La Roy.

For once, director Neufeld/Newfield (alias Sherman Scott here) has handled the proceedings with pace and even occasional flair, making deft use of a large number of real (if not particularly picturesque) L.A. locations. The director also manages the difficult feat of balancing many disparate plot elements in an extremely complicated screenplay so neatly and with such finesse that even a backward audience can always follow the plot.

Mind you, a farcical script that creates such a frantic fuss over a portable radio set that looks as if it's worth ten bucks at the most, is hardly believable. But with players like Dunn, Gifford, O'Brien and company, who cares?

James Dunn is a skip tracer; today we'd call him a repo man. He's also engaged to Frances Gifford. He's trying to repossess a radio from Rita La Roy. What he doesn't know is she's part of a gang who have stolen movie star Anna Lisa's jewels. She's hired his firm to recover them, and is willing to pay extra for no police involvement and no publicity. The jewels have been hidden in the radio Dunn is trying to repossess.

It's a comedy, but a fairly weak one, carried only on Dunn's energy and his chemistry with Miss Gifford; they were in the middle of a four-year marriage, so there's some energy there, but also some insecurity. Although she had been getting some minor roles in major pictures, but this was her first lead, and it was for PRC, so there was no time spent trying to get better takes by director Sam Newfield.