If you're not a Barbara Stanwyck fan, you should skip this movie. It's a pretty silly story, the scenes in prison are far too comfortable, and there are a couple of cringe-inducing, racist scenes showing African-Americans frightened as if they were stupid children. If you are a Barbara Stanwyck fan, however, you will probably like this movie at least enough to watch it, and perhaps as a guilty pleasure. She simply has an amazing screen presence, and it's fascinating to see her in the role of a streetwise criminal. She has scenes ranging from 'tough girl' to one hopeful for love and a second chance, and she goes all out in her anger in one scene towards the end, with spittle flying and really letting loose. Much is made of the lesbian reference in the prison ("she likes to wrestle", indicating a butch looking woman smoking a cigar), but it's a passing thing and made me smile, as did the old madam reminiscing about the men coming to her "beauty parlor" for "manicures". It's all pretty tame for a pre-Code film. Of her fellow actors, DeWitt Jennings stands out in the role of the detective who consistently sees through Stanwyck, but she's the one to watch the film for.

An enjoyably daft prison drama in which Barbara Stanwyck plays a career criminal who takes the fall for a bank robbery and ends up in San Quentin. Of course, all she needs is the love of a good moral crusader to keep her on the straight and narrow... It would be an understatement to say that the plot could have been worked out on the back of a cigarette packet; quite frankly, I'd be amazed if anybody troubled to write it down. It's also tempting to groan at the hoary old clichés till you realise that some of them were probably being minted here for the very first time. My favourite of several moments of unintentional hilarity is the one where two of Babs' associates attempt to tunnel through to her cell from the neighbouring men's prison and she disguises the racket they are making by playing loud music in the middle of the night. "How did such a criminal mastermind ever end up behind bars?" I hear you cry. Minor Stanwyck but her performance is as committed as ever.