''Parole Girl'' is a 1933 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was an era in the Cinema of the United States, American film industry that occurred between the widespread adoption of sound in film in the late 1920s and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship gui ...

romantic drama film directed by

Edward Cline Edward Cline (October 22, 1946 – 2023) was an American novelist and essayist. An Objectivist, he was best known for his ''Sparrowhawk'' series of novels, which were set in England and Virginia before the American Revolutionary War. He also wro ...

. The film stars

Mae Clarke Mae Clarke (born Violet Mary Klotz; August 16, 1910 – April 29, 1992) was an American actress. She is widely remembered for playing Henry Frankenstein's bride Elizabeth, who is chased by Boris Karloff in ''Frankenstein'', and for being o ...

and

Ralph Bellamy Ralph Rexford Bellamy (June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991) was an American actor whose career spanned 65 years on stage, film, and television. During his career, he played leading roles as well as supporting roles, garnering acclaim and award ...

Plot

When Sylvia Day is caught trying to pull a scam on the Taylor Department Store in

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, she pleads with the store manager to let her go, but his boss, Joe Smith, insists on following store policy, and she is handed over to the police, convicted and sentenced to a year in prison. Sylvia is consumed with the idea of getting revenge on Joe. She becomes friends with chatty fellow inmate Jeanie Vance, who offers to team up with her and commit more crimes once they have served their time. When Sylvia learns that Jeanie has a surprising connection to Joe, she decides to get out early. She sets a fire, then passes out from the smoke while trying to put it out. For her "heroism", she is granted parole. Tony Gratton, her partner in the failed con, tries to talk her into marrying him and going to Chicago to continue their life of crime, but she is determined to avenge herself. Besides, she knows that Tony is already married. Sylvia stalks Joe, learning all she can about him. Then, she pretends to be an old acquaintance at a nightclub where Joe is celebrating his promotion to general manager by getting drunk. The next morning, Joe discovers her in his apartment. She informs him that they have gotten married. Joe laughs, then tells her that he already has a wife. She tells him she knows (it is Jeanie), then reveals her motives. Tony shows up, masquerading as the person who married them; he gives Joe the marriage license the couple supposedly left behind. Threatened with a charge of

bigamy In a culture where only monogamous relationships are legally recognized, bigamy is the act of entering into a marriage with one person while still legally married to another. A legal or de facto separation of the couple does not alter their mar ...

, Joe reluctantly agrees to support Sylvia for a year, the length of her parole. Tony tries again to get Sylvia to be his partner in crime. When she refuses, he slips a counterfeit $20 bill in her purse. Sylvia goes on a shopping spree and pays for some of her purchases with the bill. Joe is unhappy when he sees all her purchases and asks her to be reasonable in light of his paycheque and send them back to the store. She was going to do it, but then changes her mind. The fake money is traced back to her, but when a policeman shows up to take her back to jail, Joe pretends that she took the money out of his pants pocket. As a store manager, he deals with counterfeit money all the time. His ploy to win her over with kindness works and Sylvia sends back her extravagant purchases. Later, Joe calls her from the office and asks her for a favor. Mr. Taylor, the store's somewhat eccentric owner, has found out that Joe is married, so he is coming to dinner at their apartment. While Sylvia is cooking, Jeanie arrives. Her friend has been released early and intends to blackmail her husband (whom she married long ago while he was in college and then lost track of), once she can locate him, before heading to Florida with Sylvia. Sylvia gets her to leave before Joe and Mr. Taylor show up (early) by promising to give her a decision the next day. Taylor insists on doing the cooking; he is fed up with being waited on by servants. He becomes very fond of the couple and hints at a promotion to vice president if they were to have a baby. The next day, Sylvia persuades Jeanie that it is too dangerous to try blackmail in New York because of her record and agrees to go with her to Florida. Sylvia leaves a letter for Joe explaining everything, ending with the admission "I love you". On the train, however, Jeanie reveals that she divorced Joe without his knowledge. Sylvia gets off and rushes back to the apartment; Joe has already read the letter and takes her in his arms.

Cast

as Sylvia *

as Smith *

Marie Prevost Marie Prevost (born Mary Bickford Dunn; November 8, 1896 – January 21, 1937) was a Canadian film actress. During her 20-year career, she made 121 silent and sound films. Prevost began her career during the silent film era. She was discove ...

as Jeanie *

Hale Hamilton Hale Rice Hamilton (February 28, 1880 – May 19, 1942) was an American actor. Biography Hamilton was born in Fort Madison, Iowa in 1880. (His birth year is sometimes listed as either 1879 or 1880.) His brother was politician John Daniel Miller ...

as Tony *

Ferdinand Gottschalk Ferdinand Gottschalk (28 February 1858 – 10 November 1944) was an English theatre and film actor. He appeared in 76 films between 1917 and 1938. He was born and died in London, England. He made his first appearance on the stage in Toronto ...

as Taylor *Ernest Wood as Manager *Sam Godfrey as Walsh

Production

Krasna was assigned to work on the script in August 1932. The film was announced in January 1933.

References

External links

* *
Review of film
at ''Variety'' {{Norman Krasna 1933 films 1933 crime drama films American black-and-white films American crime drama films American romantic drama films Columbia Pictures films Films directed by Edward F. Cline Films set in department stores Films set in New York City Films set in prison 1930s English-language films 1930s American films 1933 romantic drama films English-language crime drama films English-language romantic drama films