The best Joseph W. Girard’s crime movies
If you love cinema, you will share this ranking of the best Joseph W. Girard’s movies, although you may have ordered them differently. In any case, we hope you love it and with a little luck discovering a movie that you still don’t know about Joseph W. Girard.
The Secret Six
6.3/10
Bootlegger/cafe owner, Johnny Franks recruits crude working man Scorpio to join his gang, masterminded by crooked criminal defense lawyer Newton. Scorpio eventually takes over Frank's operation, beats a rival gang, becomes wealthy and dominates the city for several years until a secret group of 6 masked businessmen have him prosecuted and sent to the electric chair.
Officer Thirteen
5.8/10
A motorcycle policeman's partner is deliberately run off the road and killed by a member of a syndicate that controls the gambling--and much of the justice system--in his town. When the killer is freed because of perjured testimony and the corrupt legal system, the dead officer's partner quits the force and vows to bring the killer to justice.
The Sin of Nora Moran
6.7/10
Nora Moran, a young woman with a difficult and tragic past, is sentenced to die for a murder that she did not commit. She could easily reveal the truth and save her own life, if only it would not damage the lives, careers and reputations of those whom she loves.
Clipped Wings
4/10
Mickey Lofton, young half-brother of famed war-aviator Jerry, fails in his attempt to enter the Canadian Air Corps, because of his fear of thunderstorms developed by an incident in his boyhood days. Jerry, now a Captain in the U.S. Department of Justice, is given an assignment to capture some border oil smugglers. Through his friendship with Raoul McGuire, one of the suspects, Jerry is accepted as a member of the gang. Mickey is in love with Raoul's sister, Molly. Gang leader Moran shoots and wounds Raoul, and is himself shot down by Jerry. Mickey flies Molly and her wounded brother to a hospital. Jerry takes off in another plane to guard Mickey's craft from a pursuing airplane, and crashes his plane into the gangster's plane but parachutes to safety.
The Hurricane Express
5.3/10
The Wrecker wrecks trains on the L & R Railroad. One of his victims is Larry Baker's father. Baker wants to find the evildoer, among a host of suspects, but it will be difficult since the Wrecker can disguise himself to look like almost anyone
The Spider Returns
6.3/10
The evil and masked "Gargoyle" is sabotaging all of America's industrial plants. It is up to the Spider to save the country.
The Green Archer
6.5/10
Columbia's 12th serial of 57 total (following 1940's "Deadwood Dick" and ahead of 1941's "White Eagle") is another of director's James Horne's "classics" where he evidently figured that the same reactions that served him well in Laurel and Hardy films would work well in action serials where he has all hands, heroes and villains alike, doing some kind of over-the top "take", no matter the situation. This loose adaptation of an Edgar Wallace story finds Michael Bellamy (Kenne Duncan in his Kenneth Duncan period) inheriting Garr Castle, but his brother, Abel Bellamy (James Craven, as usual making Oil-Can Harry look smooth), has him imprisoned unjustly and moves into the castle himself. When Michael's wife, Elaine Bellamy (Dorothy Fay), fails to return after visiting Abel, her sister Valerie Howett (Iris Meredith), accompanied by their father,
Held For Ransom
5.2/10
A female detective investigates the kidnapping of a wealthy businessman.
While the City Sleeps
6.5/10
A tough New York cop is determined to bring down a crook who has always managed to provide an alibi for the crimes he's been accused of, even though the detective knows he's guilty of committing them.
The Shield of Honor
6.1/10
Can Neil Hamilton, the first flying policeman on the force, save his dad from stop-at-nothing jewel thieves?
Partners in Crime
2.5/10
After being dismissed for imitating his boss's voice on radio, former Assistant District Attorney Richard Deming witnesses a store robbery and is taken captive by the criminals. Suspected of the crime, he is sought by the police, but his sweetheart, Marie, convinced of his innocence, enlists the help of two friends, a newspaper reporter and a half-witted detective. Hoping to win the girl's favor, the two go to the gangsters' hideout, encounter a violent gang war, and accidently set off a case of police tear bombs. The police, summoned by Marie, arrive just in time to save the kidnaped attorney.
Defenders of the Law
5/10
A gang of racketeers, with the aid of a high-ranking city official has control of a big-city, and the police plant an undercover cop to gather evidence against the hoodlums - except the police keep telling the wrong person what they are up to.
The Girl from Havana
Joan Anders, a girl detective for a jewelers' protective association, poses as a chorus girl in a musical comedy troupe to capture a gang of jewel thieves.
