The Company She Keeps (1951)

A female ex-convict meets a handsome man and they begin seeing one another. Jeopardizing their relationship is her not telling him she was in prison and he not revealing his involvement ... See full summary »

Director:

John Cromwell

Writer:

Ketti Frings (story)

Stars:

Lizabeth Scott, Jane Greer, Dennis O'Keefe

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Lizabeth Scott	...	Joan Wilburn
Jane Greer	...	Diane Stuart / Mildred Lynch
Dennis O'Keefe	...	Larry Collins
Fay Baker	...	Tilly Thompson
John Hoyt	...	Judge Kendall
James Bell	...	Mr. Neeley
Don Beddoe	...	Detective Jamieson
Bert Freed	...	Smitty (plainclothesman)
Irene Tedrow	...	Mrs. Seeley
Marjorie Wood	...	Mrs. Haley
Marjorie Crossland	...	Mrs. Griggs
Virginia Farmer	...	Mrs. Harris

Storyline

A female ex-convict meets a handsome man and they begin seeing one another. Jeopardizing their relationship is her not telling him she was in prison and he not revealing his involvement with her parole officer.

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Plot Keywords:

ex convict | parole

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Genres:

Drama

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 February 1952 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

A Carne e a Alma

Filming Locations:

City Hall - 200 N. Spring Street, Downtown, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

RKO Radio Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

82 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (RCA Sound System)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

When this film was made, Howard Hughes owned both RKO, which produced it, and TWA, whose logo is featured prominently on the airplane in the airport sequence.

User Reviews

Novel Idea That Falls Short

Parole officer (Scott) and parolee Diane (Greer) compete for the same man (O'Keefe), creating conflict on several levels. At it's best, the movie's about the difficulties of being on parole.

Oddball little programmer. Scott gets top billing, but as others point out, it's Greer who gets the screen time. And far from her usual slinky seductive role, she's not only de-glamorized, but also suitably dour-faced (just count her smiles; I stopped after one). All in all, it's a rather grim screenplay, drably photographed, and I can't believe the studio expected the final product to make money.

Despite the romantic triangle that strains believability, there are several striking scenes. Catch the iconic 40's diner where Diane gets her bottom-of-the-barrel meals. The sweat and steam just about drip off the wall. And that police line-up-- a graphic cross-section of the city's tough cookies, down-and-out'ers, and hopelessly pathetic (& one of the few barfing scenes from that era), all herded along by a bullying cop (Freed). It's one of the more unvarnished glimpses of urban flotsam and jetsam from the period. Then there's the crowded jail cell where the camera abandons Diane (& us) to a nightmare of entrapment. It's an unnerving moment, very well done.

I would've liked the movie better had they made the triangle more credible, plus Scott's sacrificial character seems too good to be true. I expect the latter was RKO's effort at compensating for the harshness of the parole system as portrayed. Likely too, prestige producer John Houseman had something to do with the social realism phase, including the poignant overcoat episode. Anyway, reviewer bmacy's remarks on the influence of the previous year's Caged (1950) are on target. And, had this film carried through more with its realistic dimension, it might not be as obscure as it is.