mark.waltz Review of Grand Jury Secrets

Grand Jury Secrets (1939)

A lot of good in this B melodrama that once again shows that no crime ever pays, except in bullets or jail time.

[6/10 · 4 January 2018]

Proving that she was quite an amazing actress, Jane Darwell (heading towards an Oscar win as Ma Joad in "The Grapes of Wrath") delivers the goods as the loving neighborhood mother of everyone she meets, and real mother of two sons (John Howard and Harvey Stephens) who find themselves involved in a crime ring that manipulates grand jury's. Stephens is framed for murder by that racket, and it's up to Howard, fellow reporter William Frawley and secretary Gail Patrick to get home cleared before he has heads to the electric chair. Howard and Frawley are experts at bugging, and it's Darwell's homey apartment where the bulk of their listening equipment is stored. The cast is filled with some great character actors, including Porter Hall as a major witness in a grand jury trial, Kitty Kelly as a vivacious secretary for the mob, and Elisha Cook Jr., Morgan Conway and Richard Denning in other important parts. This grabs you right away and never lets go, an action packed and humorous script that pulls out all the stops and ends with a classic chase on a crowded curvy highway. Paramount had many low budget crime dramas of this nature ("Persons in Hiding" and "Queen of the Mob" among the best), and this is one I highly recommend.