Parole, Inc.
1948 Film Noir
title: "Parole, Inc." type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1948-films", "1948-crime-films", "american-crime-films", "american-black-and-white-films", "eagle-lion-films-films", "films-directed-by-alfred-zeisler", "1940s-english-language-films", "1948-american-films", "films-with-screenplays-by-sherman-lowe", "films-about-the-federal-bureau-of-investigation", "film-noir", "films-about-corruption-in-the-united-states", "films-set-in-california", "english-language-crime-films", "films-scored-by-alexander-lászló"] description: "1948 Film Noir" topic_path: "arts" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Parole,_Inc." license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary 1948 Film Noir ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox film"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Parole, Inc. |
| image | Parole, Inc. (1948) poster.jpg |
| caption | Theatrical release poster |
| director | Alfred Zeisler |
| producer | Constantin J. David |
| screenplay | Sherman L. Lowe |
| story | Royal K. Cole |
| Sherman L. Lowe | |
| starring | Michael O'Shea |
| Turhan Bey | |
| Evelyn Ankers | |
| Virginia Lee | |
| music | Alexander Laszlo |
| cinematography | Gilbert Warrenton |
| editing | John Faure |
| studio | Equity Pictures |
| Orbit Productions | |
| distributor | Eagle-Lion films |
| released | |
| runtime | 71 minutes |
| country | United States |
| language | English |
| :: |
| name = Parole, Inc. | image = Parole, Inc. (1948) poster.jpg | alt = | caption = Theatrical release poster | director = Alfred Zeisler | producer = Constantin J. David | screenplay = Sherman L. Lowe | story = Royal K. Cole Sherman L. Lowe | narrator = | starring = Michael O'Shea Turhan Bey Evelyn Ankers Virginia Lee | music = Alexander Laszlo | cinematography = Gilbert Warrenton | editing = John Faure | studio = Equity Pictures Orbit Productions | distributor = Eagle-Lion films | released = | runtime = 71 minutes | country = United States | language = English | budget = | gross = Parole, Inc. is a 1948 American crime film directed by Alfred Zeisler and starring Michael O'Shea, with Turhan Bey and Evelyn Ankers in support.
The film depicts an undercover FBI investigation of corruption within the state parole board of California targeting a bribery racket releasing career criminals.
Plot
FBI agent Richard Hendricks lies in a hospital bed, dictating the results of his investigation for a report to the California governor. In long flashback scenes it is revealed that a number of dubious paroles granted to dangerous career criminals cause the governor and state attorney general to suspect corruption with the state prison parole board.
Hendricks goes undercover as "Rick Carson" to portray an ex-convict attempting to buy a parole for a criminal partner currently in jail. He infiltrates the gang of a recent dubious parolee, strongarm Harry Palmer, and asks him how to purchase a parole. Two thousand dollars is the price, which "Carson" pretends to get through a phony stickup to get the ball rolling. The perpetrators of the scandal are secretive and willing to take extreme measures to prevent their exposure.
Cast
- Michael O'Shea as Richard Hendricks/Rick Carson
- Turhan Bey as Barney Rodescu
- Evelyn Ankers as Jojo Dumont
- Virginia Lee as Glenda Palmer
- Charles Bradstreet as Harry Palmer
- Lyle Talbot as Police Commissioner Hughes
- Michael Whalen as Kid Redmond
- Charles Williams as Titus Jones
- James Cardwell as Duke Vigili
- Paul Bryar as Charley Newton
- Noel Cravat as Blackie Olson
- Charles Jordan as Monty Cooper
Reception
In a contemporary review, critic Edwin Schallert of the Los Angeles Times called the film "exceptionally good" and wrote: "Michael O'Shea as a government investigator does a fine, clean-cut job which will have the studios questing for him with regularity. The film is well directed by Alfred Zeisler, and has an okay documentary flavor."
References
References
- "Parole, Inc.".
- Schallert, Edwin. (1948-11-25). "New 'Burlesque' Version Exceptional in Appeal". [[Los Angeles Times]].
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::