Convict's Code
Monogram Pictures (1939) Dir. Lambert Hillyer
63 min. / B7W / 1.37:1 / Mono / SDH
Film Masters Blu-ray BD-R $21.99
Here in the Balcony, we have a special fondness for B movies, and by that, we mean the traditional definition: movies that were shorter, more economical, and with fading stars, rising stars, or no stars, generally produced by either minor-majors like Columbia Pictures or the Poverty Row Studios such as Monogram and PRC. They were intended to play as the bottom half of double-bill with A pictures; by 1936, better than 8 out of every 10 movie theatres were catering to the double-bill crowd, a way to sell tickets during the Depression. What we have here with Convict’s Code is a prime example of a movie that would fit in comfortably with a bigger picture from Paramount or MGM.
Robert Kent served three years in prison for a robbery he didn’t commit, and he is playing cat-and-mouse with parole agent Victor Kilian because he’s intent on finding out who framed him, and to do that he has to hang around with undesirables, stay out after 9 pm, nurse an occasional beer, and even carry a gun. Little does Mr. Kent realize that the guy that got him his parole and has hired him to be a chauffeur and gopher, Sidney Blackmer, is also the rat who framed him and as if THAT isn’t enough plot for 63 minutes, Kent has fallen in love with the boss’ sister, Anne Nagel, and needs to clear his name so that he can woo her properly.
If that's not a reason to stick around for an hour after the Andy Hardy picture is over, what is?
Director Hillyer is remembered today for serials (including Batman), B westerns, and Dracula’s Daughter, and he does what he can with a low-budget and probably a shooting schedule of a week. Star Kent was no great actor, but he had the looks and hung around in Hollywood for 20 years, also a veteran of serials and B movies. Leading lady Nagel did several serials herself, including both Green Hornet chapterplays and The Secret Code, plus appeared in several Universal horror films, always rising above shaky material. Blackmer is good as her older brother but it’s Kilian as the parole officer we’ll remember from this film, alternately understanding and no-nonsense, it’s a good part and a fine performance by Kilian. We also enjoyed Norman Willis as the trigger-happy henchman and Maude Eburne as the eccentric landlady of our parolee hero.
Film Masters’ presentation of this film is from a British print; it has the British stamp of approval and is labeled Monarch Film Corporation, Ltd. It’s a complete print, neither jumpy nor splicy, but it isn’t going to wow anybody for its picture and sound. It’s a fun little movie though and worthy of rediscovery. Hillyer keeps it moving, and unlike many Monogram films of the time, it actually has some sequences shot outdoors and not all cramped into an old dark house set.
We enjoyed this one.
