L'aventurière de San Francisco

This was an enjoyable, yet unremarkable, film that deals with a racket of women who marry multiple servicemen in order to collect their allotment benefit checks. It all seems like a rather elaborate way to earn a buck, and easily traceable. Playing the leader of the syndicate is actress Kay Francis in her final role. In the mid '30s she was under a Warner contract and was reportedly the highest paid actress in the world. But unfortunately by the end of that decade she had gotten the reputation of 'box office poison' and she had to finish her career in poverty row b movies like this one. The film also features Otto Kruger who plays his usual suave gentleman villain part, he is number 2 behind Francis at the top of the scheme. Walk, don't run to this one.

Allotment Wives (1945)

You might moan when you hear the official voice-over talking about the War Department's benefits program and such. But hang in there. The intro is brief, and it's kind interesting, and it sets up the main movie, which has a great hook: women marrying several absentee G.I. men at once so they can collect multiple benefits. Including big death benefits if the men never returned..

This isn't a brilliant affair, but it's better than you'd expect. It has some mediocre acting and routine filming, but it also some some really good parts. The key is the story, and the way the investigator (one main man, a curious, underplayed part by an underused, quirky actor, Paul Kelly) does his job.

The leading female is played by Kay Francis. Never heard of her? She was Warner Bros. number one actress for several years in the early 1930s. Yes, and yet has really no single film to point to that has held up as great (she did do an interesting George Cukor movie early in both of their careers). But she's terrific with this middling material, and feels like an undiscovered leading lady. There's a scene between her and her saucy daughter that ends in a slap that will remind you of a similar scene in "Mildred Pierce" a year later. But Francis is usually just likable, even as she runs a lucrative scheme right in front of the U.S. Gov't's nose.

There are straight, great noir films with lesser plots, to tell the truth, but this one is filmed in a bright, flat way, with the camera often just sitting there as the actors go through their lines in the lights. Not that you need shadowy drama all the time, but drama, and a physical presence, and a higher sense of style and art. Director William Nigh has a whole slew of these B-movies to his name, and he is often too functional for his own good.

Paul Kelly is put in charge of exposing and terminating the organization that is masterminding bigamy schemes that fraudulently get access to allotment benefit funds to provide for wives and children of servicemen. Kay Francis is the head of the notorious syndicate and Otto Kruger is her henchman. That would seem to be the main plot but competing with it is Kay Francis' concern for her wild college aged daughter who is running amok. Then there is Gertrude Michael trying to blackmail Kay based on some issue from their past. Not to mention the romantic situation between Kay and Kruger or Kelly's interest in Kay. An 80 minute movie leaves us unsatisfied in allowing enough time for developing the main plot let alone these subplots. The end result is a threadbare flick with a superficial expose of the allotment wife issue. This movie was part of a three movie package that Kay signed with Monogram that you'll note also gave her credit as Producer and essentially marked the end of Kay's fabulous career. While far from her best outing her movies are all worth viewing. Kruger and Kelly were excellent in support. Disappointing but still entertaining.

Kay Francis is stylish Sheila, who owns a salon. But the real money is in an organized money scam. Her girls marry (multiple) soldiers, pocketing their pay, money, and insurance payouts, and then move on to find another husband. The picture quality is a little rough... many of the faces and scenes are washed out, but it's so old, we're lucky to have it at all. The cops are onto the money scheme, and we follow that along. Sheila's daughter Connie (Teala Loring) is away at school, but when she comes home, she stirs things up pretty quickly. This one is okay.... runs almost like an episode of dragnet; we watch as the cops close in on the wrong activity. It also has some things in common with mildred pierce... when mom needs money, she comes up with a "sideline", and she smacks Connie to show her boundaries. At least the writers treat the cops respectfully in this one... in so many of those old films, either the cops are getting insulted, or bumbling and stumbling over their own feet. Directed by Bill Nigh, who had been directing silents right from the beginning. Story by sidney sutherland. I guess this one didn't go over too well... Francis only made one more film after this one.

Many film buffs consider this the best of Kay Francis' "Monogram Trilogy". It's a good companion piece for MILDRED PIERCE (also 1945) -- only ALLOTMENT WIVES has a harder edge -- Kay Francis is tougher, in a more complex role. She looks slim and stylish here as she leads a crime syndicate while fronting with a chic salon. The film is full of surprises and suspense. Excellent support comes from Teala Loring as Kay's troubled daughter who is kept from harms way at a private girls school. Their scenes together have a genuine feeling that allows sympathy for their situation and struggle. Kay's final scene on the staircase is a classic and her exit line is a memorable one. Gertrude Michael does a fine job as Kay's long lost friend out to do her no good. Her character throws more sympathy Kay's way even though Kay herself has a cold-blooded side in a losing "man's" game.