Tip-Off Girls
Cast & Crew
Louis King
Mary Carlisle
Lloyd Nolan
Roscoe Karns
Larry Crabbe
J. Carrol Naish
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Red Deegan oversees a truck hijacking operation for his boss, Joseph Valkus. Red's method of hijacking employs his moll, Rena Terry, whose seemingly helpless femininity inspires truckers' trust. Once she has been picked up by a trucker, after hitchhiking or appearing to be injured, she sends a signal to tip off the hijackers. The truck is then stolen, and Valkus makes a huge profit on its contents. When several truckers are killed during the hijackings, the Federal Bureau of Investigation takes an interest in the case and sends two agents, Bob Anders and Tom Benson, to work undercover. The agents pretend to run their own trucking business, but manage to catch one of Rena's tips and hijack one of Deegan's trucks, which is carrying Scotch whiskey. This loss inspires Valkus' wrath, but Bob and Tom are caught by Deegan trying to sell the Scotch. Impressed with their trick, Deegan hires them, and Bob quickly becomes Deegan's best worker. Bob falls for Valkus's secretary, Marjorie Rogers, who used to work for the hotel from which Valkus runs his operation, and who is completely ignorant of his illegal activities. Bob goes out on a job one night with Rena, who does not trust him. One of the hijacked trucks is stopped by a policeman who works with Bob, but Bob pretends to knock him out so the truck can get away. He gives the policeman a message to give to their chief, implicating Valkus, and pretends to rough him up sufficiently to allay Rena's suspicions. Later, however, Marty, one of Deegan's thugs, and Rena catch Tom giving away the next hijacking location over the phone. They bring him to Valkus, who already has been confronting Bob. Both Bob and Tom are thought to be working for someone else and stealing business from Valkus. Valkus forces Tom and Marjorie, whom he implicates in their scheme, to drive a truck carrying a veritable army of hijackers to meet the supposed rival hijackers, unaware that it will be a police blockade meeting them. In the guise of a shorthand lesson, Marjorie sends her receptionist friend, "Boots" Milburn, a message to contact the police. In the meantime, Valkus and his thug, George Murkil, beat up Bob, hoping to find out the identity of his boss. Valkus is shot by police, and Bob and a policeman chase after the trucks, causing an accident that enables the police to arrest Deegan, Rena and the hijackers. Bob and Marge marry and go on a honeymoon.
Director
Louis King
Cast
Mary Carlisle
Lloyd Nolan
Roscoe Karns
Larry Crabbe
J. Carrol Naish
Evelyn Brent
Anthony Quinn
Benny Baker
Harvey Stephens
Irving Bacon
Gertrude Short
Archie Twitchell
Barlowe Borland
Pierre Watkin
John Hart
Harry Templeton
Vic Demoruelle Jr.
Jack Pennick
Ethan Laidlaw
Stanley King
Stanley Price
Phillip Warren
Wade Boteler
John Patterson
Frank Austin
Richard Allen
Stanley Andrews
Oscar G. Hendrian
Barbara Jackson
Wally Dean
Field Norton
Frank Mayo
Pat West
Al Herman
Wally Maher
Harry Fleischmann
Willard Kent
Joyce Mathews
Ruth Rogers
Laurie Lane
Margaret Randall
Cheryl Walker
Lola Jensen
Paula De Cardo
Marion Weldon
Gloria Williams
Crew
Stuart Anthony
Hans Dreier
A. E. Freudeman
Charles Hisserich
Ellsworth Hoagland
William Lebaron
Edward T. Lowe
Boris Morros
Walter Oberst
Robert Odell
Maxwell Shane
Theodor Sparkuhl
George "dink" Templeton
Adolph Zukor
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
The working title of this film was Highway Racketeers. The copyright synopsis includes a gunbattle between hijackers and police that does not occur in the film.
Miscellaneous Notes
Released in United States 1938
Released in United States 1938
