LET 'EM HAVE IT

Richard Arlen with Bruce Cabot in the background

LET 'EM HAVE IT (1935). Director: Sam Wood.

Federal agents Mal Stevens (Richard Arlen), Van Rensseler (Harvey Stephens), and Tex Logan (Gordon Jones of The Green Hornet) are up against a formidable foe in Joe Keefer (Bruce Cabot), who has organized a gang of ex-cons, many of which he sprung from a prison farm, to engineer a series of bank robberies. Joe was originally a chauffeur for Eleanor Spencer (Virginia Bruce), who was once very close to Van but now has feelings for Mal. Unfortunately, Eleanor gets angry with Mal when he is unable to prevent her kid brother, Buddy (Eric Linden), from becoming a G-Man, with tragic results.

Eric Linden and Richard Arlen

Under the direction of Sam Wood, Let 'Em Have It is a fast-paced, well-acted, and entertaining cops vs robbers movie. Although mostly forgotten today, even by film buffs, Richard Arlen (Island of Lost Souls) was a handsome and charismatic leading man for most of his career, which comprised nearly 200 credits. Other players in this flick include Alice Brady [When Ladies Meet], as Eleanor's man-hungry Aunt Ethel, and Barbara Pepper as one of Cabot's blond molls, Milly. Pepper later gained a lot of weight and appeared more than once on I Love Lucy. Sam Wood also directed Goodbye, Mr. Chips in 1939 and a great many others.

Verdict: Snappy picture hasn't a dull moment. ***. 

GIRLS IN CHAINS

GIRLS IN CHAINS (1943). Director: Edgar G. Ulmer.

When Helen Martin (Arline Judge, who sports one of the most hilarious hairdos ever seen!) is ostracized because her sister's husband, Johnny Moon (Allen Byron AKA Addison Randall), is a notorious hoodlum, she winds up trying to help the young women at a girls' correction facility. Unfortunately most of the nasty staff members are in Moon's pocket. You might think that this might lead to some amusing complications, but this bad movie from PRC is simply earnest and dull. Judge is okay, but Robin Raymond has more spice as bad girl Rita. A young Barbara Pepper gives a zesty performance as another inmate. One aged actor plays an obnoxious drunk so well that each appearance is enough to make you cringe.

Verdict: Perhaps well-intentioned, but still junk. *.