Les Filles du service secret

Among my William Berke's favourites with BETRAYAL FROM THE EAST, the most interesting crime films he ever made, with a good plot, a good cast and a good surprise because there are no real lead character here, no one and unique hero above the rest of the cast. It is not too long and it is tense all long the movie. Produced by Lippert Company, it is at the same quality scale as a RKO picture, a company for which William Berke also worked. The cops duo, some kind of a buddy scheme - Cesar Romero, George Brent - is a bit improbable but surprising in the good way. You can trust me, this film is not a masterpiece but a damn good B movie.

Could this be it? The Holy Grail, the zenith of film noir mediocrity, the quintessential 'B' movie? F. B. I. Girl is no ordinary quickie/cheapie, but comes packed with a gallimaufry of bonus features: Stilted, wooden acting, unintentionally amusing dialogue, two investigators (Romero and Brent) who are about as charismatic as a wet week-end in Widnes and a thoroughly muddled plot, involving the stealing of incriminating fingerprint records.

Ambitious, but corrupt governor, Raymond Greenleaf, in collusion with his ruthless P. R. man, Raymond Burr, decide that the best way to beat a murder rap is....er... to commit more murders. Burr, a character who exudes all the charm of a fox ravaged bin bag, orchestrates the proceedings. His first patsy is Margia Dean. She may hold a responsible position with the F. B. I., but will she be prepared to FIB?

The growing body count produces a priceless sequence. Disguised as a priest, gravel voiced hood, Alexander Pope gains easy access to the merely critically wounded, hospitalized Don Garner, hoping to add a few finishing touches to the job, but events take a wildly unexpected turn, with uproarious results.

Despite having little going for it, F. B. I. Girl works surprisingly well on another level. It never descends to the depths of the gut-wrenchingly, mind numbingly abysmal. Moreover, from its mock military opening score the movie continues along a consistently entertaining, ham-fisted plateau, even raising the temperature by a few degrees for the relatively tense, fast moving finale. All involved appear to be tinkering with the dynamics, the nuts and bolts of the genre, creating, whether by design or not, a finished work, which conveys an air of affectionate parody. Taken in this context, F. B. I. Girl ticks all the boxes and emerges as a must-see vehicle.

This all but lost docu-noir was released By Poverty Row Lippert Productions, shot in just twelve days and directed by William Berke.... This gets better and better! Watch at your earliest opportunity and neatly avert years of regret.

CODA: Startling stat. In 1951 six million Americans had police records. There must be a message (in a bottle) for all of us.

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.

A politician needs to tamper with FBI files to advance his career so uses his fixer, a menacing Burr, to influence the girls working there to do his dirty work; these plans go awry and turn deadly. Our stalwart agents Romero and Brent try to figure out what's going on as another FBI girl (Totter) gets roped in. The plot becomes knotty and hazy at times and there are a few coincidences thrown in but we are treated to quite a number of memorable and unusual scenes as well as an action-packed finale that must have blown this B-movie's budget. An entertaining ride with the players taking the roles quite seriously despite the clunky plot mechanics. 6.5/10.

You want to talk about dated - the sight of people going through paper files of people's fingerprints - wow.

Something else dated - there was a time when someone planning to run for governor was concerned about an old murder he committed under another name being discovered when his fingerprints are run. I guess back then if you had a record, it would be difficult to be elected.

In order to keep his secret, the card with the fingerprints has to be stolen. Pressure is brought to bear on a man to make his sister steal the card.

Several murders follow.

Done in the semidocumentary style of the day, the film stars Cesar Romero, George Brent, Audrey Totter, and Raymond Burr.

One thing I noticed immediately- one of the members of a particularly awful TV act was none other than Hollywood Squares host Peter Marshall.

Cesar, Audrey, and George had seen better days as this was a strictly B movie. Raymond Burr was looking toward a bright future in television.