Evening star., 1949-02-16

mGrlL IN seeing q HOLLYWOOD uuS
for the good of the screen. TIL,
opened at the Warner yesterday,
little to work with.
"Shockproof" is one of those
routine elodram as, slickly
enough made. but. more exciting
In title than in content.
It's chief distinction might very
well be that it exhibits Miss
knight, or Mrs. Wilde, not only
as a competeB enough actress
but also as a >shapely girl who
should prove discouraging to
feminine fans who have been
wondering what Wilde's wife Is
like.
"Shockproof" is one of those
original screen stories which pro-
ducers have found cheaper to
buy lately than hit plays or best
seller novels
It is the work of Helen Deu-
tsch and Samuel Fuller. They are
q glib pair-a bit too glib. They
have come up with case his
tory excepted after fashion
from the parole records of the
Los Angeles penal system.
You can bet your last nickel
they did not take just any old
case to show how prison parole
works. On the contrary, their
dossier is that of a glamour girl
(Miss Knight) who is out of pri-
son after five years for numbering
a COON who was about to kill her
sweetie.
AS an assistant probation Of
ficer, Wilde falls heir to this
enticing. embittered ornament OF
the underworld. He lays down
the law-the parole law-to her
It is a law with number OIL
stringent provisions, the tough-I
est of which is that the girl shall
not see her former f1ashy para
mour. He comes under the head
ing of bad company, yet he does
have the sound judgment to make
a play for Miss Knight before she
has drawn a second breath OF
free air.
Strickly in the line of duty as
an assistant parole officer, Wilde
takes her into his own home,
gives her a job as companion to-
his blind mother. and figures the
ease Is a chinch from there out.
r. II II ~
Up to this point. Wilde has re-
sembled a reasonably intelligent,
faithful public servant. Instantly,
It is apparent to every one but
him that municipal governments
should be manned by men who
know more about the dangers OF
blonds in situations as intimate
as those of the American home.
Before Wilde knows and certainly
before the girl cares, he is in
love with her. She communi-
Gates this intelligence to her para
mour-a college man who flashes
polysyllabic words at a girl-and
he sets trap.
His crafty scheme is to get the
girl and Wilde married, then
charge the latter with having
forced her to break parole, and
claim the bride as his prize.
There are always bitches in
schemes like this and this one
misf1res to the extent that the
paramour is shot by the girl who
fees to Mexico with Wilde where
they live miserably until they de-
eide to give themselves up and
face trial.
Since everyone knew this was
going to happen all the time, it
represents absolute zero IN sus-
pense. The only question is how
long 1t will take. which turns out
to be 80 minutes.
X n
While Wilde is the hero OF
"Shockproof" and its most virtu-
Gus figure, the picture belongs
more to Miss Knight. She is a
much closer approximation Of a
dramatic character. a girl who
looks as if she should have been
spared a murder rap by any rea-
sonably sensitive jury, plus a law
yer aware of the defense of temp
orary insanity. Since she was
not so spared, she gets an oppor-
tunity to run through some ma
jor emotions. bitter despair, fear,
tortured love. and a desperate
yearning for human decency.
She does ably by her assign
ment, more so than the script
writers who place most OF their
faith in sheer coincidence when
they find themselves in a jam.
Wilde, John Baragrey as the
silky, educated villain, Russell Col
lins and the others polish of
their varied chores as if they were
sheer routine. Which, of course,
they are.
II X
The current March OF Time,
also Warner feature, takes