Girls On Probation (1938)

• Director
  • William C. McGann
• Writer
  • Crane Wilbur(original screenplay)
• Stars
  • Jane Bryan
  • Ronald Reagan
  • Anthony Averill

  Warner Bros.' Girls on Probation was, and is, a potboiler, redeemed slightly by its cast. The fascinating, underused Jane Bryan stars as innocent young Connie Heath, who is falsely accused of theft by witchy Gloria Adams (Susan Hayward). Though Gloria withdraws her charge, the insurance company continues to persecute poor Connie, resulting in a charge of grand larceny. Championing her cause is crusading attorney Neil Dillon (Ronald Reagan), who gets Gloria off with probation. Alas, she resumes her friendship with "fast girl" Hilda Engstrom (Sheila Bromley), who was responsible for getting Connie into trouble in the first place. And there's still 30 minutes to go! Girls on Probation received plenty of airplay in the 1980s during the Reagan presidency then enjoyed a second life as a late-night mainstay of the Turner Classic Movies cable service.