Filmed by a Poverty Row studio with a largely unknown cast, augmented by former Universal stalwarts Evelyn Ankers and Turhan Bey, PAROLE INC., is a good example of a so-called "problem picture" designed to draw attention to one of the iniquities blighting late Forties American society.In this case it is the corrupt parole system whereby habitual criminals are let out of jail on the promise of reform and promptly resume their nefarious habits. This is chiefly due to a corrupt system headed by lawyer Barney Rodescu (Turhan Bey), who bribes two of the five- person Parole Board to vote in the prisoners' favor while trusting in the Board's ability to return positive verdicts. Intrepid federal agent Hendricks (Michael O'Shea) volunteers to expose this racket by posing as a master criminal, infiltrating the racket at its lowest level and discovering how it works. He frequents The Pastime Club, a seedy joint run by Barney's fiancée Jojo (Ankers), and peopled by a clutch of hoodlums all in baggy suits and snap-brimmed hats. The rest of the story is predictable.For an action thriller PAROLE INC. is remarkably static with too much time devoted to lengthy voice-overs from Hendricks as he tells what happened to a tape recorder from his hospital bed. The two nominal stars do what they can with the material: Bey looks immaculate in his tailored suits, but shows a tendency towards sadism, even though he assaults no one. He has a good line in dialogue delivery, describing one of his unfortunate minions as "a jackass," and vowing to get rid of any double-dealers daring to cross him.On the whole, however, Alfred Zeisler's B-Movie is rather too moral for its own good, even though it dramatizes a scenario common to late Forties movies, suggesting that corruption is so rife in American institutions that no one knows how to separate friends from enemies.

Some shoddy editing prevents me from giving this noir film from that across the pond studio Eagle-Lion a better rating. Parole Inc. tells the story of the federal government's effort to smash a parole fixing racket and how FBI man Michael O'Shea working undercover as a recently paroled criminal himself makes a connection to get his partner free.Heading this whole racket is a very smooth attorney played by Turhan Bey and his moll Evelyn Ankers. Bey is nobody's fool and he suspects O'Shea from the beginning.What's best about Parole Inc. is O'Shea is out there without much of a lifeline and has to rely on his wits to survive. A lot like Marlon Brando in one of my favorite Brando films Morituri. We know he does survive because he narrates the film from his hospital bed using a Dictaphone. Does spoil the suspense somewhat.Who else survives and how O'Shea breaks the racket. Watch Parole Inc.

This low-budget little crime thriller actually turned out to be better than I thought it would be. Cagney-like Michael O'Shea plays a federal investigator who goes undercover to expose a crime ring that gets undeserving prisoners paroled in its care, resulting in a crime wave that's wracking the city. O'Shea is quite good as the feisty agent posing as a convict on the lam, and Turhan Bey is fine as a slick, villainous lawyer. The script by "B" veterans Sherman Lowe and Royal Cole is serviceable if predictable, and some of the supporting performances are weak, but little-known director Alfred Zeisler keeps things moving along, although a little raggedly. All in all, a pretty good example of the low-budget independent "B" thriller of the late '40s. Worth a watch.

Michael O'Shea becomes an undercover agent in an attempt to discover who's behind the self-evident corruption of the parole board. The printed prologue informs us that this is a serious social problem, that the streets are filled with "repeaters", and that there is one peeking through your window right now, waiting for his chance to strangle you and pillage your household.O'Shea finds out that the friends of a recently sprung parolee hang out in the Pastime Club, "a combination night club and cheap café." Whatever happened to cheap night clubs anyway? The old movies are full of them but the only ones left seem to be Birdland and the Las Vegas lounge acts. It's a terrible loss to the community.The plot is a little too complicated to spell out. Some of the mob behind the corruption are not as bad as some of the others, although at the end, O'Shea's identity is discovered and they give him a real working over. No problem though. We see him swathed in bandages, dictating the story from a hospital bed, his recovery assured by the ministrations of the ever-popular Bess Flowers as Nurse Mary.The movie is one hundred percent routine. It wouldn't really be helpful to describe more of the contorted plot. Besides, I haven't the time. There's a recidivist pervert at the door and it sounds as if he's urgent.