IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Stellead Don't listen to the Hype. It's awful

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

wes-connors As a young lass, beautiful Joan Woodbury (as Rita Adams) was orphaned, after her "stool pigeon" father was shot to death. As a young woman, Ms. Woodbury finds herself struggling to keep a job, as her murdered father's ex-convict status makes Woodbury a bad business risk. Woodbury rooms with understanding songstress Linda Ware (as Donna Andrews), who advises Woodbury to get in touch with old orphanage friends John Archer (as Bob Elliott) and Jack La Rue (as Mickey Roman). But, none of her friends can help when Woodbury is the victim of a scam, which lands her in prison. Upon release, Woodbury decides to give the male mobsters a run for their money… Re-titled "Gangs, Inc.", this is an obviously weak, cheap mobster melodrama. Still, it's a lot of fun to watch Woodbury work wonders with inferior material. She plays the innocent growing more sophisticated "Rita" quite convincingly; and, she tosses in a great bit as a blonde hooker. Woodbury must be added to the list of unfortunately underutilized Hollywood actresses of the past. "Paper Bullets" also features an early Alan Ladd (as Jimmy Kelly aka Bill Dugan). Ms. Ware, who sang the hit "An Apple for the Teacher" with Bing Crosby, sings a couple of fair '40s numbers nicely. But, mainly, it's Woodbury's show.**** Paper Bullets (1941) Phil Rosen ~ Joan Woodbury, Linda Ware, Alan Ladd

classicsoncall Right out of the box, this had the makings of a pretty good revenge flick, but that plot got slowly frittered away with off tangent events that didn't move the story forward satisfactorily. I saw the film under the reissue title "Gangs, Inc.", part of a 4 DVD/sixteen film 'Mobsters' movie set well worth it's ten dollar price tag. This one falls slightly below average against the rest of the ones in the collection, a shame because it could have been a lot better.I guess the main problem with the story is that even though Rita Adams (Joan Woodbury) ultimately gets her revenge against the crime syndicate that rubbed out her father, she wound up going the same route as the bad guys by sharing the same fate with a guilty verdict. The goon that she took the rap for in a fatal hit and run accident wound up written out of the story in an off screen auto accident, so there was no way for her to exact revenge on him directly. The job of infiltrating the crime combine fell to Alan Ladd's character Jimmy Kelly, but don't blink or you'll miss his connection to the story. Kelly's girlfriend Donna (Linda Ware) has a couple of singing numbers in the film, but other than being friends with Rita, there's no other reason for her being there as she plays no role in the outcome either.What you have here is a movie that on the surface looks like it's actually going somewhere but never arrives. The ending closes on a dedication sign for a playground, presumably on the grounds of the orphanage that took in the young Rita Adams left fatherless in the early part of the story. This viewer was left surmising that the sign was paid for with Rita's share of her ill gotten mob money.

Consul_Incitatus This obviously was a pretty low budget production, but the cast was pretty decent, the basic premise had promise, and something more could have been done with it, but the script wasn't that great- the plot is incoherent and seems almost random at times and the dialog is stilted and terrible.Basically, a girl's father gets whacked by fellow gangsters, and later she becomes a robber, and wants to avenge his death, and then it goes into a mob protection racket involving corrupt politicians.Alan Ladd gets top billing but he really plays a very minor role.I have to say I found it mildly entertaining in its archaic B-grade hokiness but it really is shoddy and pathetic.

Phil Reeder What I liked best about this flick was the chance to see Joan Woodbury, who awe-struck me as one of the several beauties in the Charles Boyer classic "Algiers", in a leading role. She does well as Rita, an orphan who rises to make good as a lady crime boss. Her ascent to the top reminds me of Joan Crawford's characters, e.g. Mildred Pierce, who realize their ambitions by fierce determination and willpower. If you're looking for a film noir classic, better look elsewhere. At several points, it's difficult to know where this story is going. I first got the impression that it was going to encompass Rita's plot for revenge against the father and son who tricked her into taking the rap for a drunk driving death perpetrated by the playboy son. But payback time ended up being only a minor point, and a springboard to the somewhat confusing second part of the film, where Rita becomes increasingly involved in city corruption. Anyway, it's only 72 minutes, so a second viewing should clear up any haziness. My copy is from a Platinum box set called "Mobster Movies". The picture quality is good, but the soundtrack sucks, constantly skipping fragments of dialog. There are eight films in the $5.50 box, making each movie a fair 69 cents. Look for Anne Archer's father, John Archer, as Rita's childhood friend Bob. Alan Ladd doesn't get much screen time. It's definitely Joan Woodbury's picture.