Mary Ryan, Detective (1949)

A police detective (Marsha Hunt) goes undercover to take down a group of jewel thieves. Posing as a prisoner, her cellmate (Victoria Horne) tips her about an employment agency that hires more than secretaries. Directed by Abby Berlin (FATHER IS A BACHELOR), this low budget programmer is more entertaining than it has a right to be. Like most low budget B movies, it's very short (1 hour, 7 minutes) which makes it tight and quick moving without the often unnecessary padding that makes higher budget films drag on and on. Hunt is appealing in a rare leading role and perhaps unintentionally, the movie accents the incompetence of the police. Certainly not something to seek out but if it crosses your way and you've nothing better to watch, you could do worse. With John Litel, June Vincent, Katherine Warren and Harry Shannon.