A parole officer falls in love with his client, a beautiful blonde who served time for murder, and he’s determined to help her go straight despite her interfering criminal boyfriend. -Synopsis

After having served 5 years in prison for killing a man while defending her gambler bf, Harry (John Baragrey), Jenny Marsh (Patricia Knight) is set for parole. Her parole officer, Griff Marat (Cornel Wilde), is determined to make Jenny go straight. Griff gives Jenny a job in his own home, something against regulations; she is a companion to his blind/Italian/immigrant mother. At first, Jenny still has feelings for Harry, BUT as Griff shows her more compassion and care, she falls in love w/ him. Harry seems to encourage this, b/c he has plans to crush Griff’s dreams of running for political office. Wilde (NOT the most versatile actor, yet fit well here) and Knight (a former model; his wife IRL) divorced in 1951. They do have good onscreen chemistry, as some viewers have noted.

This film (which is available for free on YouTube) features the iconic Bradbury Building as the location of Griff’s office. A YT movie critic noted that Bunker Hill (a real LA neighborhood) is the place of the Marat house. The post WWII era brought back big fashion, incl. Dior’s sumptuous “New Look” of full skirted ladies’ garments (launched in 1947). Costumer Jean Louis used that trend to his advantage in the clothes he designed for this film. The reaction of the two boys to meeting a “bleached blonde” was fairly typical. Peroxide blonde hair was usually relegated to film stars, pin up girls, or the “fast” women. It was a difficult, often risky process to do; the mid-century would bring innovation in hairstyles (and hair coloring become easier/less costly to obtain). A popular ad line from Clairol asked: “Is it true blondes have more fun?”

Douglas Sirk (who is now considered a “director of women’s pictures”) signed on to make this film on the basis of Sam Fuller’s original screenplay, which was called The Lovers, and ended in a violent rebellion against the system keeping Griff and Jenny apart. Co-producer Helen Deutsch rewrote the script and added the (approved by Columbia) ending. Sirk hated the ending; he later said Deutsch’s changes ruined the film by removing the sense of doom in Fuller’s story. As noir-istas may know, Fuller worked as a writer and/or director on many films (incl. Pickup on South Street). Sirk went on to direct the Technicolor melodramas Magnificent Obsession (1954), All that Heaven Allows (1955), and Imitation of Life (1959). I want to see Written on the Wind (1956); I missed the recent screenings at AFI (here in Silver Spring).

[1] They say it’s the journey, not the destination, that usually counts with stories. In the case of Shockproof it’s good to just focus on the journey…

[2] …the main woman is a bit wooden. You can feel her trying too hard too often…

…there are some things to really enjoy here. You might find the movie ordinary for awhile, with some nice clichés and a steady development. But then, halfway, there’s a huge and really sudden twist. And a believable one, a great scene. Suddenly there is a whole new plot.

[3] Sirk and Lawton consistently have bar shadows featuring prominently; Jenny Marsh never escapes them… The Marat home is a delightful amalgamated design of art deco and the ornate.

-Excerpts from IMDb reviews