Grand Jury Secrets (1939) User Reviews

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

[mark.waltz · 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.

Good cast struggles with an uneven script

[dbborroughs · 5/10 · 2 November 2008]

Okay mystery about a couple of reporters invading the secrets of the Grand Jury with a short wave transmitter that fits in a briefcase. They get information on the investigation of some crooked lending practices which then results in murder and mayhem as they are chased and they chase the bad guys...all the while the little radio transmitter is adding complications and information. Despite a good cast that has John Howard and William Frawley as the reporters this is another mixed bag. An odd mix of comedy and mystery the film suffers because for all of the complications you never really feel the leads are in any danger. The problem is that the leads are so clearly in control and above anything that you really can't buy that anything will happen to them. Certainly its amusing and entertaining but during its entire running time I kept hoping that it would somehow get better and lose the sens that the film makers were nodding and winking at me that this was all so much more clever then it was. Worth a look if you run across it, but I wouldn't go out of my way to find it. 5 out of 10