''Delinquent Parents'' is a 1938 American

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combi ...

directed by

Nick Grinde Nick Grinde (January 12, 1893 – June 19, 1979) was an American film director and screenwriter. He directed 57 films between 1928 and 1945. Biography Born Harry A. Grinde in Madison, Wisconsin but nicknamed "Nick," Grinde graduated from th ...

and written by Nicholas T. Barrows and Robert St. Claire. The film stars Doris Weston, Maurice Murphy, Helen MacKellar, Terry Walker, Richard Tucker and Charlotte Treadway. The film was released on July 15, 1938, by Progressive Pictures.

Plot

In the closing days of the

Great War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

, Edith Ellis secretly marries Charles Wharton Jr., a young army lieutenant from an influential family. The

Armistice of 11 November 1918 The Armistice of 11 November 1918 was the armistice signed at Le Francport near Compiègne that ended fighting on land, sea, and air in World War I between the Entente and their last remaining opponent, Germany. Previous armistices ...

occurs just prior to her husband's sailing to France, his influential family successfully seeks to have their weakling son's marriage

annulled Annulment is a legal procedure within secular and religious legal systems for declaring a marriage null and void. Unlike divorce, it is usually retroactive, meaning that an annulled marriage is considered to be invalid from the beginning almost ...

. Edith is injured in an automobile accident with Edith and her family keeping her pregnancy secret, putting her child up for adoption. Edith's daughter is adopted and raised as Carol Caldwell, but in a fit of rage her adoption is revealed to her circle of friends by her former friend. Shamed by not knowing she was adopted, Carol cruelly turns her back on her adopted parents and works as a nightclub singer where she attracts a young crowd to the establishment. Carol's adopted parents turn to their friend Edith Ellis, now an unmarried Judge who doesn't know that Carol is really her daughter. More complications ensue when Carol's nightclub is secretly owned by a major criminal and Carol is threatened with being charged with contributing to the delinquency of minors.

Cast

*Doris Weston as Carol Wharton Caldwell * Maurice Murphy as Bruce Jefferson * Helen MacKellar as Judge Edith Ellis *Terry Walker as Cousin Betty * Richard Tucker as Harry Jefferson *Charlotte Treadway as Mrs. Harry Jefferson * Morgan Wallace as Charles Wharton * Marjorie Reynolds as Edythe Ellis * Theodore von Eltz as Carson *Walter Young as Joseph Caldwell *Sibyl Harris as Katherine Caldwell *Carlyle Moore Jr. as Charles Wharton Jr. *Janet Young as Mrs. Mihom *

Byron Foulger Byron Kay Foulger (August 27, 1898 – April 4, 1970) was an American character actor who over a 50-year career performed in hundreds of stage, film, and television productions. Early years Born in Ogden, Utah, Byron was the second of fo ...

as Herbert Ellis *

Virginia Brissac Virginia Brissac (June 11, 1883 – July 26, 1979) was a popular American stage actress who headlined theatre companies from Vancouver to San Diego during the heyday of West Coast Stock in the early 1900s. An ingénue and leading lady known for ...

as Mrs. Herbert Ellis * Harry Hayden as Mayor Wharton * Betty Blythe as Mrs. Wharton * Marge Champion as Dancer

References

External links

* {{Nick Grinde 1938 films 1930s English-language films American crime films 1938 crime films Films directed by Nick Grinde American black-and-white films 1930s American films