Review of Convicted Woman

A one-year sentence to a woman's prison for a ten-dollar theft!!?? Even if Betty Andrews (Rochelle Hudson) was guilty, which she wasn't, a reasonable judge would probably have requested restitution and perhaps community service. Even for 1940, that seemed a little bizarre if not barbaric. But that's the story, so I guess you have to go along with it. While not as hard hitting as 1950's "Caged" or 1955's "Women's Prison", this look at crime and punishment was intended to make a statement about inhumane prison conditions and the need for reform. When one of the inmates commits suicide, rehabilitation minded Mary Ellis (Frieda Inescort) is put in charge of the Curtis House of Correction, and with the aid of newspaper reporter Jim Brent (Glenn Ford), helps Betty achieve the pardon she was striving for. Helping her own cause by requesting a dance night for her fellow inmates, Betty's plans are almost scuttled later when she's kidnapped by thugs tipped off by her nemesis, 'The Duchess' (June Lang). By not making it back by curfew during a limited Thanksgiving parole, her sentence could have been extended while putting Miss Ellis in jeopardy for not informing the prison commissioner of the unusual strategy. By leaping into action, Brent rescues Betty and gets her back in time to a waiting pardon, and in a most unlikely ending, Brent and Miss Andrews close out the picture in a clinch even though there was no build up to a romantic involvement between the two. If you're a Glenn Ford fan, you might want to catch him in the 1950 programmer titled "Convicted", but be aware that he's on the opposite side of the bars in that one as a prison inmate himself!