Allotment Wives (1945) - Turner Classic Movies

Brief Synopsis

Unscrupulous women marry servicemen for their pay.

Cast & Crew

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William Nigh

Kay Francis

Mrs. Shelia Seymour

Paul Kelly

Colonel Pete Martin

Otto Kruger

Gertrude Michael

Teala Loring

Film Details

Also Known As

Inc.

Genre

Drama

Adventure

Release Date

Dec 29, 1945

Premiere Information

New York opening: 21 Nov 1945

Production Company

Monogram Productions, Inc.

Distribution Company

Monogram Pictures Corp.

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 20m

Sound

Mono

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

7,057ft (8 reels)

Synopsis

Throughout World War II and into peace time, the U.S. government operates the Office of Dependency Benefits, which handles the issuing of allotment checks and family allowances to women with husbands serving in the forces. However, when evidence of many fraudulent claims for support come to light, Col. Pete Martin of Army Intelligence is assigned to O.D.B. to find the unscrupulous women who have been entering into multiple marriages with servicemen in order to claim their allotments and allowances. Posing as a newspaper reporter, his former occupation, Pete is sent to the West Coast to begin his investigations. In a restaurant, Pete observes a transfer of cash between a young woman, Helen Keefe, and a suspicious-looking George Shields, who then introduces her to a young soldier. From the bar, Pete, incognito, orders their arrest. At the same time, Mrs. Sheila Seymour, the owner of a high-class beauty salon and organizer of an entertainment canteen for servicemen, notices Pete and introduces herself. Unknown to Pete, Sheila is really the mastermind of the allotment fraud racket, along with associates Whitey Colton, Deacon Sam and Louis Moranto. Later, Sheila accuses Moranto of being careless, then fires him and orders Whitey to check up on Pete. Whitey later reports that he has tailed Pete to the O.D.B. office. When Sheila sees her daughter Connie, who knows nothing about her mother's activities and is about to graduate from a private school, at a bar with a girl friend and two soldiers, she is dismayed by her behavior and takes her home. Sheila meets Pete again at the canteen, where he is supposedly researching an article, and agrees to meet him the next day. Meanwhile, one of Moranto's former henchmen, Spike Malone, and his girl friend, Gladys Smith, try to enter the upper echelons of the racket. Gladys realizes that she knows Sheila from reform school, and she and Spike follow her home, where Gladys also spots Connie. Although Connie fights bitterly with her mother, she eventually agrees to return to school for the remaining two months. Sheila then plans to quit the racket and tells Connie that they will travel to South America with Whitey, of whom they are both fond. Pete has not yet connected Sheila with the racket and, the next day at lunch, warns her that some girls are using the canteen to find "husbands." When Gladys calls on Sheila and begins to blackmail her, Sheila responds by calling Whitey and arranging to have Gladys turned in to the police for racketeering and bigamy. In jail, Gladys learns from Helen, who subsequently commits suicide, that Sheila is running the allotment racket. After she is released on a technicality, Gladys and Spike involve Connie in a series of wild parties. Later, Gladys and Spike break into Sheila's house and hold her at gunpoint, then demand a large sum of money for Connie's return. Sheila tips off Whitey about their presence, and he and his men come to her rescue and shoot Spike, who escapes. Sheila then shoots and kills Gladys. After Pete takes Connie into custody, he asks Sheila to counsel the troubled young girl, unaware that she is Connie's mother. Sheila arranges for Whitey and the others to break in and free Connie, but Whitey is shot. Pete discovers Spike's whereabouts and links him to Sheila through a pack of French cigarettes. Meanwhile, Connie and Sheila reconcile and get ready to leave for Mexico. Sheila then sends Connie off with the trustworthy Deacon, while she prepares to face Pete. However, Connie and Deacon are prevented from leaving, and when Sheila attempts to shoot Pete, she is shot and killed by one of his aides. Later, Pete turns in his report to the head of O.B.D., who agrees to "bury" Connie's history in the files.

Director

William Nigh

Cast

Kay Francis

Mrs. Shelia Seymour

Paul Kelly

Colonel Pete Martin

Otto Kruger

Gertrude Michael

Teala Loring

Bernard Nedell

Anthony Warde

Matty Fain

Jonathan Hale

Brig. General H. N. Gilbert

Selmer Jackson

Terry Frost

Reid Kilpatrick

Philip Van Brook

Doris Lloyd

Alice Van Brook

Marcelle Corday

Evelynne Eaton

Michael Browne

Elizabeth Wright

Sarah Edwards

John Elliott

Paul Bradley

Cosmo Sardo

Parker Gee

Larry Steers

Nolan Leary

Frank Mayo

Phil Hegland

Roy Butler

Marie Harmon

Glenn Charles

Rune Hultman

Connie's soldier

Lee Bennett

Technical sergeant

Mary Arden

Veta Lehmann

Laura Corbay

Peggy Leon

Betty Sinclair

Karen Knight

Telephone operator

Henry Vroom

John Gannon

Good-looking soldier

Jean Andren

Fashionable woman

Louise Frye

Fashionable woman

Pat Gleason

Police sergeant

Winnie Nard

Gertrude Astor

Edgar Caldwell

Billy Vernon

Crew

William Austin

Jeffrey Bernerd

Trem Carr

Mario Castegnaro

Transparency projection shots

Bob Clark

Special Effects

Glen Cook

Production Manager

Kay Francis

Harvey Gates

Larry Glickman

Special opt Effects

Richard Harlan

Assistant Director

E. R. Hickson

Keneth Hopkins

Miss Francis' hats

Joseph I. Kane

Re-rec and Effects mixer

Edward J. Kay

Tom Lambert

Lorraine Maclean

David Milton

Odette Myrtil

Miss Francis' gowns

Harry Neumann

Al Nicklin

Sidney Sutherland

Sidney Sutherland

Vin Taylor

Charles Thompson

William H. Wilmarth

Film Details

Also Known As

Inc.

Genre

Drama

Adventure

Release Date

Dec 29, 1945

Premiere Information

New York opening: 21 Nov 1945

Production Company

Monogram Productions, Inc.

Distribution Company

Monogram Pictures Corp.

Country

United States

Technical Specs

Duration

1h 20m

Sound

Mono

Color

Black and White

Theatrical Aspect Ratio

1.37 : 1

Film Length

7,057ft (8 reels)

Articles

Allotment Wives

October 22, 2013

Kay Francis, the once-upon-a-time queen of the "woman's picture" of the 1930s, had her movie star lustre considerably reduced by the 1940s. She'd long left the glamour days of Warner Brothers to contract with Monogram studios, the same two-fisted outfit that created the Bowery Boys comedies and Charlie Chan movies (and to whom Godard dedicated his own New Wave gangster film Breathless (1960)) The pay was small, the output strictly grade B, and the censors mostly couldn't be bothered. Maybe that's why this story about military insurance fraud, marriage for hire, and double-crosses aplenty escaped their scissor-happy glare. Francis was a copious diarist and recorded how much she contributed to this production, including uncredited script rewrites. Alas, a segue into a career as a screenwriter was not to be: this was the 40-year old actress's final screen appearance.

By Violet LeVoit

Allotment Wives

Allotment Wives

Kay Francis, the once-upon-a-time queen of the "woman's picture" of the 1930s, had her movie star lustre considerably reduced by the 1940s. She'd long left the glamour days of Warner Brothers to contract with Monogram studios, the same two-fisted outfit that created the Bowery Boys comedies and Charlie Chan movies (and to whom Godard dedicated his own New Wave gangster film Breathless (1960)) The pay was small, the output strictly grade B, and the censors mostly couldn't be bothered. Maybe that's why this story about military insurance fraud, marriage for hire, and double-crosses aplenty escaped their scissor-happy glare. Francis was a copious diarist and recorded how much she contributed to this production, including uncredited script rewrites. Alas, a segue into a career as a screenwriter was not to be: this was the 40-year old actress's final screen appearance. By Violet LeVoit

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

The working title of this film was Allotment Wives, Inc., the title under which Variety reviewed the picture. Onscreen credits include the following written acknowledgment: "To the War Department Office of Dependency Benefits and to the Navy Department-Monogram Pictures Corporation wishes to express its appreciation for the co-operation given in the filming of this production." According to a September 1944 Hollywood Reporter news item, George Sayre and Neil Rau were assigned to write the film's story. The contribution of these writers to the completed picture has not been confirmed.

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