ManiakJiggy This is How Movies Should Be Made

Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.

Brennan Camacho Mostly, the movie is committed to the value of a good time.

Jenni Devyn Worth seeing just to witness how winsome it is.

dougdoepke An assistant DA tries to track the whereabouts of missing girls, leading into a tangled web of corruption.With that suggestive title and sleaze director Elmer Clifton, I was expecting maximum titillation. Well, there is some peek-a-boo at The Crescent School of Fine Art, where the half-clad dancers somehow manage to all be female. No doubt, if it weren't for the censors, the "school" would be called Gateway to Hookerland, but then this is a commercial product. Not surprisingly, it is a cheap undertaking by quick-buck producers. Still, the cast is much better than the material, especially the sparkly Allwyn and the smoothly slick Van Zandt, who's especially impressive as an egotistical gangster. His sarcastic exchanges with DA Horton (Archer) may well be the film's dramatic highlight. These main players may not be exactly household names but they do lend edge to what could have been merely a listless payday. Impressive too is old-timer HB Warner who's about as relaxed before the camera as anyone I've seen. Still, it's a long way from Jesus in King of Kings (1927), a silent screen classic. I imagine he was added for marquee value. Then too, catch malt-shop Gale Storm in a small but appealing part.Anyway, it's a rather complex plot so you may need to keep notes. Still, the large cast does about as well with the tacky material as can be expected, and is not without points of interest.

a_baron What a load of rubbish. Girls are not missing from this non-thriller, but everything else is. No real action until two thirds and more of the way through, and then only if you use a liberal definition of action. Leading lady Astrid Allwyn is no ingénue but you kind of wish she was, even women reporters were never meant to be this brazen. There is no real plot to this either, there is no scenery, it could have been made in one building, and probably was. Did people really shell out good money to watch celluloid trash like this even in the 1940s? Another reviewer has suggested it has hidden depths, that the missing girls were involved in a white slavery racket or some such. It does give that impression towards the end, but if ever subtlety was not needed, it was not needed here.

Hitchcoc This is the story of a crime boss who has a front for either white slavery or prostitution. The words are never spoken. This would have been pretty hot stuff for the time. It involves an assistant district attorney, a female reporter, and a cop who just can't retire. All in all, the chemistry is pretty good. The reporter isn't as tiresome as they usually are. She seems to have some soul and some merit. The bad guy is also pretty well conceived and presents a formidable presence. It is pretty formulaic but keeps our attention throughout. The blackmail thing is believable for the most part and the elements of the crime story are nicely balanced. The one thing that troubles me is the aftermath, dealing with the reporter's father. I won't give anything away, so see what you think of the ending scene.

wes-connors "A string of mysterious deaths and disappearances of young women have all been traced to a drama school, where all the girls were students. The district attorney suspects the school may be a front for a prostitution ring and sets out to investigate it. After the D.A. is blackmailed into dropping the investigation, a female reporter decides to go undercover to learn the truth," according to the DVD sleeve's synopsis.Writer/director Elmer Clifton manages to squeeze a few drops of blood from this stone. A scene between villain Philip Van Zandt (as King Peterson) asking "Do you mind if I smoke?" and hero John Archer (as Jimmy Horton) replying "I don't care if you burn" piques interest. Mr. Clifton and H.B. Warner (as "Mac" McVeigh) were bigger names during the silent film era (look for Walter Long, also).Mr. Archer was a fine actor, who did not get the parts he deserved; and it shows, in this film. Teenage Gale Storm (as Mary Phillips), who unexpectedly became a 1950s TV and rock 'n' roll era recording star, is irresistibly cute; she, and brief pair of vivacious dancing girls, give the film some much-needed oomph. In spite of some strengths, "City of Missing Girls" remains oblique and recumbent.**** City of Missing Girls (3/27/41) Elmer Clifton ~ John Archer, H.B. Warner, Gale Storm