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Forgotten Girls

  • 19401940
  • ApprovedApproved
  • 1h 8m
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
34
YOUR RATING
  • Cast & crew
  • User reviews
  • IMDbPro
Robert Armstrong, Wynne Gibson, Jack La Rue, Louise Platt, and Donald Woods in Forgotten Girls (1940)
  • Crime
  • Drama
A young woman is sentenced to prison for a murder she didn't commit. Her stepmother's gangster friends break her out, but it turns out that her problems are only beginning.A young woman is sentenced to prison for a murder she didn't commit. Her stepmother's gangster friends break her out, but it turns out that her problems are only beginning.A young woman is sentenced to prison for a murder she didn't commit. Her stepmother's gangster friends break her out, but it turns out that her problems are only beginning.
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
34
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Phil Rosen
  • Writers
    • F. Hugh Herbert(screenplay)
    • Joseph Moncure March(screenplay)
    • Frank McDonald(story)
  • Stars
    • Louise Platt
    • Donald Woods
    • Wynne Gibson
Top credits
  • Director
    • Phil Rosen
  • Writers
    • F. Hugh Herbert(screenplay)
    • Joseph Moncure March(screenplay)
    • Frank McDonald(story)
  • Stars
    • Louise Platt
    • Donald Woods
    • Wynne Gibson
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 3User reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos24

    Eduardo Ciannelli, Louise Platt, and Donald Woods in Forgotten Girls (1940)
    Raymond Bailey, Louise Platt, Sid Tomack, and Dale Van Sickel in Forgotten Girls (1940)
    Donald Woods in Forgotten Girls (1940)
    Wynne Gibson in Forgotten Girls (1940)
    Eduardo Ciannelli in Forgotten Girls (1940)
    Robert Armstrong in Forgotten Girls (1940)
    Wynne Gibson in Forgotten Girls (1940)
    Wynne Gibson, Jack La Rue, Louise Platt, and Donald Woods in Forgotten Girls (1940)
    Eduardo Ciannelli and Louise Platt in Forgotten Girls (1940)
    Jack La Rue, Louise Platt, and Donald Woods in Forgotten Girls (1940)
    Forgotten Girls (1940)
    Wynne Gibson, Jack La Rue, Louise Platt, and Donald Woods in Forgotten Girls (1940)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Louise Platt
    Louise Platt
    • Judy Wingateas Judy Wingate
    Donald Woods
    Donald Woods
    • Dan Donahueas Dan Donahue
    Wynne Gibson
    Wynne Gibson
    • Frances Wingateas Frances Wingate
    Robert Armstrong
    Robert Armstrong
    • Grover Mullinsas Grover Mullins
    Eduardo Ciannelli
    Eduardo Ciannelli
    • Gornoas Gorno
    Jack La Rue
    Jack La Rue
    • Eddie Nolanas Eddie Nolan
    Barbara Pepper
    Barbara Pepper
    • Eve Abbottas Eve Abbott
    Charles D. Brown
    • Editor Lintonas Editor Linton
    Sarah Padden
    Sarah Padden
    • Miss Donaldsonas Miss Donaldson
    Ann Baldwin
    • Jackieas Jackie
    Raymond Bailey
    Raymond Bailey
    • Reporteras Reporter
    • (uncredited)
    George Chandler
    George Chandler
    • Stoolieas Stoolie
    • (uncredited)
    Ann Doran
    Ann Doran
    • Inmateas Inmate
    • (uncredited)
    Sam Flint
    Sam Flint
    • Judgeas Judge
    • (uncredited)
    Robert Frazer
    Robert Frazer
    • Prosecuting Attorneyas Prosecuting Attorney
    • (uncredited)
    Gus Glassmire
    • Henchmanas Henchman
    • (uncredited)
    Harrison Greene
    • Salesmanas Salesman
    • (uncredited)
    Ethyl May Halls
    • Matronas Matron
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Phil Rosen
    • Writers
      • F. Hugh Herbert(screenplay)
      • Joseph Moncure March(screenplay)
      • Frank McDonald(story)
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit
    Judy Wingate , working in a paper-box factory, is living very unhappily with her step-mother, Frances Wingate , and Frances is very fond of entertaining members of the underworld at home. Eddie Nolan assaults Judy and she knocks him out with a kitchen-pan, and flees. Eddie is only unconscious but Frances finishes him off...and Judy is charged with murder and sent to prison for five years. A young newspaper reporter, Dan Donahue, believes she is innocent. Meanwhile, Frances is filled with remorse over Judy's conviction for a crime she committed, but not remorse-filled enough to confess. But she has a plan to get Judy out of prison. —Les Adams <longhorn1939@suddenlink.net>
    • prison
    • murder
    • underworld
    • reporter
    • newspaper reporter
    • 37 more
    • Plot summary
    • Add synopsis
    • Taglines
      • HAPLESS...HELPLESS...Victims of ruthless men, they sacrifice their right to happiness in their desperate fight for the right to LIVE! (original poster)
    • Genres
      • Crime
      • Drama
    • Certificate
      • Approved
    • Parents guide
      • Add content advisory

    User reviews3

    Review
    Top review
    Jack La Rue gets a frying-pan lesson.
    The plot finds Judy Wingate (Louise Platt), worker in a paper-box factory, living very unhappily with her frowzy step-mother, Frances Wingate (Wynne Gibson), and Frances is very fond of entertaining members of the underworld at home. Frances is especially very fond of gangster Eddie Nolan (Jack La Rue), although Eddie has his eye on Judy.

    Eddie and Frances go clubbing, Eddie gets Frances drunk and pawns her off on another man, and he hotfoots it back to the Wingate home to take a run at Judy. Judy fends him off, and Eddie is not one to be discouraged by any amount of fending, so Judy hits him in the head with a heavy iron frying pan. This discourages Eddie some as it serves to knock him out.

    Fances has returned, unknown to Judy, and she has been observing the proceedings and is somewhat unhappy that Eddie has dumped her and is now chasing Judy around the house. Judy flees from the scene without seeing Frances and, after Judy has left, Frances thinks Eddie can use some more lessons in manners and she steps in the kitchen and hits him in the head again with the handy frying pan. This may have served to teach Eddie a good lesson but, since it kills him, he never gets a chance to show what he has learned.

    Judy is charged with the murder and a young newspaper reporter, Dan Donahue (Donald Woods), champions her cause, but she is sentenced to five years' imprisonment. She goes to prison and is reasonably happy as she finds the environment more cheerful than living with her stepmother.

    Meanwhile Frances is filled with remorse over Judy's conviction for a crime she committed, but not remorse-filled enough to confess. But she has a plan to get Judy out of prison. She contacts her gangster friend Gorno (Eduardo Ciannelli)who has a reputation for being able to spring people out of prison. His technique is to have an unclaimed corpse planted in the cell of the prisoner he is freeing, the corpse is blown up with dynamite and this makes the corpse---or the remaining pieces impossible to identify--- and the authorities assume that the prisoner has committed suicide. This is a very good racket indeed as Gorgo double-dips by collecting a fee from the party of the second part, Frances in this case, and also collects the insurance from the party of the second part on the supposed, party of the first part, deceased prisoner.

    For those who would be critical of Gorno for collecting on both ends, it should be pointed out that his profit margins aren't all that high, what with having to secure the corpses, pay off the jailers and the cellmates---here's fifty to keep quite and say nothing while we blow up this corpse---and also shell out the cost of the first month's insurance, and salaries for henchmen and just all-around overhead associated with any enterprise. His start-up costs alone had to have been staggering, and all good businessmen need a certain amount of return-on-investment, especially in the field of public service, even if there are no other firms bidding for the job.

    Judy escapes, and everyone, including good old Dan, believes she is dead, a dynamite suicide. Dan is not all that good of a reporter or else he would be nosing around and asking the proper authorities where Judy got the dynamite. But then Judy, who has been spirited away by Frances,learns the details of how she come to be spirited away, escapes from Frances, and phones Frances and says she is going to give herself up to the police. Frances tells her friend Mullins (George Chandler), who calls his friend Gorno, and Gorno tells Mullins to kill Frances to silence her. Mullins takes Frances for a drive out on a lonely country road, and she begins to suspect that Mullins is not as good a friend as she thought he was and she jumps out of the speeding car to keep Mullins from killing her, and this ultimately serves the same purpose a few days later anyway. Mullins bills Gorno for the job anyway, figuring just as the Sundance Kid did a few years later that the jump alone would kill her. As mentioned before, Gorno's overhead was staggering.

    But Frances, after she quit bouncing, is picked up and taken to a hospital and Dan, Judy and Gorno learn that she is about to make a statement and confess all before she dies. (How should I know, maybe she sent out a press release.) Gorno is a little miffed when he hears this since he has already paid Mullins a full fee for an uncompleted job, so he heads for the hospital and takes a gun to complete the job before the three o'clock press conference Frances has scheduled.
    helpful•7
    1
    • horn-5
    • Dec 6, 2005

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • March 15, 1940 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Mujeres olvidadas
    • Filming locations
      • Republic Studios, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production company
      • Republic Pictures (I)
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 8 minutes
    • Color
      • Black and White
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.37 : 1

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