Paper Bullets (1941)

Paper Bullets (1941)

„Paper Bullets“ is a 1941 crime thriller film directed by Phil Rosen

Alternative Titles: „Gangs, Inc.“ (reissue title), „Crime, Inc.“ (Working Title), „Gang War“ (TV Title)

Jim Adams, a former gangster and snitch, is gunned down in front of his daughter, Rita Adams. She’s sent to an orphanage, and makes friends with Mickey Roma and Bob Elliott.

Rita grows up, single and struggling. She lives with her best friend, singer Donna, and has a drunken boyfriend, Harold DeWitt, the son of rich, powerful, Clarence DeWitt. Bob, who is now an aerospace engineer, offers to try to get Rita work.

Harold kills a pedestrian in a hit-and-run accident with Rita in the car. Acting on the advice of his father’s lawyer, Bruce King, he gets Rita to claim responsibility, saying he’ll be disinherited, and she’ll only get probation. She’s sentenced to one to five years in prison.

Rita gets out of prison and her friend from the orphanage, Mickey, who now works in organised crime, explains how Harold betrayed her. Rita takes to crime, robbing gullible men.

Clarence De Witt wants the police to crack down on organized crime and leads a reform ticket.

Jimmy Kelly, a policeman undercover in the gang, collects protection money for racketeer Kurt Parrish. Receipts are down because of DeWitt’s reform efforts.

Mickey asks Rita to return the letters in Harold’s file which prove his guilt, but she has her plan for revenge and buys radio time to speak out against DeWitt’s hypocrisy. This wins her a meeting with Parrish and mobster Lou Wood. After Rita negotiates a place for herself in the syndicate, she visits DeWitt with copies of the letters, and forces him to use his political influence for the syndicate’s benefit. Jimmy observes that Parrish is using votes, or "paper bullets", to take control.

Mickey learns that the real Dugan is in prison. Jimmy is abducted by Parrish’s men, and the police chase ends in an accident. Joe persuades the newspapers to print the false information that Jimmy was killed in the crash, which devastates Donna, who has fallen in love with him.

Rita then quits the syndicate to marry Bob, but immediately after the wedding she is arrested and indicted along with Parrish, Wood and DeWitt. During the trial, the courtroom spectators are shocked when Jimmy takes the stand, and all four defendants are convicted. As Bob comforts Rita and promises to wait for her, children play at the playground she built as a monument to the innocence of youth.

Soundtrack musić:
„I Know, I Know“ – by Vick Knight (as Vic Knight), Johnny Lange and Lew Porter, Performed by Linda Ware
„Blue Is the Day“ – by Maurice King (as Maurice Kozinsky), Johnny Lange and Lew Porter, Performed by Linda Ware

Cast: