Gangs Inc.
               
Director: Phil Rosen
Year: 1941
Rating: 4.0
Aka - Paper Bullets

This is a Poverty Row production that sucked me in with what seems to be a starring role by Alan Ladd. With Ladd headlining I figured it had to be a solid production. Bait and Switch. This was made in 1941, a year before he hit it big with This Gun for Hire. He has a supporting role about 5 or 6 actors down. The film was first released as Paper Ballots, but after Ladd became a star, it was re-released as Gang's Inc with him on the posters, Neat trick. Maybe a clue should have been the director Phil Rosen who made a ton of films you never heard of though a few of them were Charlie Chan films.



Anyway, this is pretty much a stinker though the plot sounds pretty good. A little girl sees her jail bird father shot for squealing right before her. Off to the orphanage. Years later she has trouble getting a job because her dad was a felon and she falls in with the wrong guy who makes her take the rap for a crime he committed. She (Joan Woodbury) comes out of jail with a plan - robs a few banks for seed money and then moves to another city where she takes over the criminal enterprises. But in her heart she is still that sweet girl in the orphanage. It had possibilities but looks cheaper than a 10 cent perfume.  Ladd shows up about 40 minutes in and sticks around for a cup of coffee or two. Jack La Rue is in the cast as well. The Production company was King Brothers and this was their first film. They later went on to make a few good low-budget films such as Dillinger and Gun Crazy.