Mulheres Culpadas

To go out partying, sweet Jane Bryan (as Connie Heath) borrows an evening dress from sassy Sheila Bromley (as Hilda Engstrom). The dress turns out to be stolen (from smartly attired Susan Hayward, in an early appearance). Thus, innocent Ms. Bryan is guilty by association with Ms. Bromley, a "wench" who answers job priority queries with, "Boys are my work."

Soon, Bryan becomes one of many "Girls on Probation". Consequently, she loses her job, and sees her "criminal past" jeopardizing her romance with Ronald Reagan (as Neil Dillon). Veterans Elisabeth Risdon & Sig Ruman (as Roger and Kate Heath) and handsome Anthony Averill (as Tony Rand) help make this cheap tale of degradation fun to watch. Bromley is an irresistibly trashy "bad girl".

**** Girls on Probation (1938) William McGann ~ Jane Bryan, Ronald Reagan, Sheila Bromley

Girls on Probation (1938)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Extremely silly but highly entertaining crime picture from Warner is "B" movie from start to finish. A good girl (Jane Bryan) gets arrested after her bad girl friend (Sheila Bromley) steals a dress and blames her. The girl gets off due to a insurance inspector (Ronald Reagan) but a little while later is arrested for conspiracy to commit robbery with the same bad girl and her now boyfriend. Once again, innocent but in the wrong place, the girl gets put on probation but soon her past catches up with her as she's now about to marry Reagan's character and is afraid of what he'll think about having a girl on probation. It's amazing how much "story" gets packed into this 65-minute movie but there's quite a bit and it never slows down. I must admit that the movie kept me entertained from start to finish but the biggest reason as to why I can't give this a higher rating is because Bryan's character has got to be the dumbest in screen history. This is coming from someone who watches over a thousand movies a year but this is without question the dumbest character I've seen in any movie. Bryan's character gets herself into so much trouble and it's all because of her doing dumb things and of course all of this blame goes to screenwriter Crane Wilbur who also directed many shorts for Warner. With that said, the performances are all pretty good with Bryan turning in fine work but the picture certainly belongs to Bromley who is perfect as the bad girl. Reagan is fine in his supporting role and early on it's Susan Hayward playing his girlfriend. The ending is downright stupid and brought me to laughs but that's just part of the entertainment to this thing. Fans of "B" movies will certainly want to check it out. Others beware.

With a slippery friend like Hilda, a dad like a steaming pot, plus a Cinderella dress that could send her to jail, what's poor sweet Connie to do. Well, we find out over a rather mild 60-minutes. It's a 1930's crime programmer from WB, with the usual WB elements-- a brassy blonde (Hilda), gunplay action, and a righteous hand of the law. Here, however, the sweetness of actress Bryan's Connie overshadows these gritty parts. The likable girl's caught up in a vortex of connivance and plain bad luck, that lands her in jail. At the same time, Connie's radiant close-ups, even at the worst moments, amount to a personal showcase that focuses away from the storyline. Anyway, my favorite part is the women's jail. There's real spark in those scenes, and note how similar the girls look, all slim, young, and attractive, like the result of a casting call.

Frankly, the storyline's a big stretch, particularly Hilda and Connie's enduring relationship, and that's despite Hilda's frequent betrayals. In fact, the relationship even overshadows Connie's clichéd romance with amiable attorney Neil (Reagan). (Catch Reagan's 1938 film credits-I'm surprised he ever slept.) All in all, the flick's pretty loosely put together, the elements too wobbly to achieve real impact. Nonetheless, probation comes off looking like a pretty humane idea, which I guess is the movie's main purpose.

"Girls on Probation" is a B-movie whose biggest claim to fame are a couple very early performances by supporting actors Ronald Reagan and Susan Hayward. Otherwise, it's full of plot holes and often irritating to watch....especially as the film progresses.

Connie (Jane Bryan) is a working lady who doesn't know that she's got a friend who is a bad egg. Hilda is very larcenous...and ends up getting Connie into trouble twice. First, when they go out dancing, Hilda lends Connie a dress...a dress that turns out to be stolen. Naturally, Hilda lies about it and Connie is left holding the bag. Second, Connie moves to another town following this and, surprise, suprise, she finds Hilda in her car....and demands Hilda tell the truth. But Hilda is in the middle of a robbery...and she's waiting in the getaway car....and soon Connie is forced at gunpoint to get in the getaway car! Soon they are chased by cops and Hilda begins shooting at them. Connie strips the gun away from her and forces the accomplice to pull over and the police arrest them.

The cops believe Connie was part of the robbery and Hilda insists she was as well...though WHY and why Connie is so vicious makes little sense. And, it makes no sense that the women are tried TOGETHER (which is odd since Connie is testifying against Hilda) and they are locked up in jail together!

Can the probation department straighten all this out and get to the truth of the matter? Or, is Connie destined to be her girl-toy in the big house?

The plot to this film strains credibility well past the breaking point. So often, Connie behaves stupidly and Hilda's strange actions just don't make much sense either. It's especially confusing and stupid when Hilda re-appears much later...trying to blackmail Connie! So, despite being made by Warner Brothers, it's a B-movie with a script with more holes than a pound of Swiss cheese!! Watchable but pretty dumb.

"Connie Heath" (Jane Bryan) is a nice young woman who works hard and just wants to to be treated fairly. Unfortunatley, she has a very strict father named "Roger Heath" (Sig Ruman) who disapproves of her friend "Hilda Engstrom" (Sheila Bromley) and forbids Connie to have anything to do with her. Now normally Connie would comply with whatever he father decrees however she chooses to disobey just once when Hilda invites her to a party one night and even offers to let her wear one of her dresses for the event. But what Hilda doesn't tell her is that she stole the dress from the tailor shop that she works at. And this is when her troubles begin. Now rather than reveal any more I will just say that this was a decent grade-B film which didn't have much action but still managed to keep my attention for the most part. One thing I should also mention is that, even though the movie poster has Susan Hayward plastered on the front of it, she actually only had a relatively minor role (as "Gloria Adams") compared to that of Ronald Reagan (as "Niel Dillon") and the aforementioned Jane Bryan and Sheila Bromley. Be that as it may, while this was a rather short film (about 63 minutes) I suppose it was worth the time spent watching it and I have rated it accordingly. Average.