Dr. Daniel French (James Dunn) works at Emergency Hospital, Police Division. He is also a renowned womanizer. His current girlfriend is Nurse Irene Blaine (Shirley Grey). French is called to the scene of a shooting but by the time he gets there, the man is dead. The gangster had been playing cards with three other men. A woman had been there at one time, but everyone ran out after the shooting.
Later a beautiful woman is brought into the hospital. They put her in room 419. She had been severely beaten, was delirious and barely conscious. She falls into a coma for three days. Eventually she regains consciousness and begins to improve. She is questioned by the police but won’t say who attacked her. All they know is that her name is Mary Dolan (Gloria Stuart). In the meantime, Dr. French falls in love with Mary.
Peter Lawton (William Harrigan) is a gangster who likes to dabble in the art world. French knows Lawton because of their appreciation of art and French’s job tending to criminals and their victims. French finds out that Lawton knows Mary and that there is something sinister between them. Lawton wants to move her from the hospital and transfer her to a private clinic. French sees that Mary is terrified of Lawton and refuses to let her be taken from the hospital.
Lawton sends a hit man named Sammy (Jack La Rue) to finish Mary off. Sammy messes up again and ends up killing a hospital orderly named Otto Hoffer (Vince Barnett) and wounds a doctor, Dr. Martin Nichols (David Manners). Sammy ends up killed by the police. When Lawton learns that Sammy failed, he suggests that he has more henchmen to spare. Dr. French believes that in order to save Mary she must confess everything she knows to the police, even if it means prison for her.
“The Girl in 419” was released in 1933 and was directed by Alexander Hall and George Somnes. It is an American pre-code crime drama. The movie is mostly obscure, but it can be obtained from some bootleg sellers.
It is a rather quick movie and just over an hour long, perhaps even a little longer depending on where you get it from. The film is in OK shape considering its age. The acting is OK, especially Kitty the telephone receptionist, played by Kitty Kelly. She has a voice you never forget. The story was average, but it did have a rather satisfying ending. Using a police hospital as a setting was a nice touch. There isn’t a lot of comedy, but the tone of the film is light and breezy. Most comic relief comes from Vince Barnett as Otto the orderly. The movie itself was alright but nothing really engrossing.
Pre-code elements include a pregnant woman who already has kids wanting to be sterilized and the actual ending of the film.