Pretty Gloria Stuart stars with Lee Tracy in "Wanted: Jane Turner" which is about mail fraud. The film was made in 1936; seventy-one year later, Gloria Stuart, at 87, would find big fame as the elderly survivor of the Titanic in the 2007 film. As she herself said, she was named most likely to succeed in high school, but she had no idea it would take so long.
"Wanted: Jane Turner" is a good opportunity to see Los Angeles as it was back then and remember the more personal touch by our postal service. A man stands at a window and gives out mail as Tracy and Stuart investigate a mail robbery on the East Coast which is using a letter sent to General Delivery to one "Jane Turner," a phony name.
The letter is picked up by a woman whose real name is Jane Turner, which causes problems. There are other frauds exposed while the investigators are there, including the old mail order bride con - you know, I'll marry you, just send me bus fare.
There's also a sweet subplot of an elderly man coming in sometimes twice a day, expecting a letter with money in it from his son. There's also a wild police interrogation. No good cop, bad cop here, just which cop can be the more aggravating.
An enjoyable film, with art deco decor and a little romance. Really makes you long for simpler times and some human interaction.
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