Probation

Probation

1932 · 67 min · ★ 6.3 · Drama

Janet Holman is suspicious of her fiancé, Allen Wells, after he kisses her best friend Gwen when the lights are turned out during a party. Allen leaves early, purportedly for business reasons, but in reality, he is going to visit his secret girl friend, seventeen-year-old Ruth Jarrett. When Ruth's neighbor and landlady, Mrs. Humphries, overhears her talking to Allen on the phone, she becomes morally outraged and calls the police. Ruth is taken away to juvenile hall, and when Ruth's older brother Nick comes home to celebrate Ruth's birthday, Mrs. Humphries explains that Ruth has been seeing an older, wealthy man who has been leading her astray, and that she sent her away for her own good. Nick is saddened that he has failed to keep Ruth on the right track, and when he returns to his apartment, he becomes enraged to see Allen there. When Allen claims ignorance of Ruth's age, Nick hits him, and they engage in a brawl.

Directed by Richard Thorpe · Written by Edward T. Lowe Jr.

Your Rating

Where to Watch

Rent or Buy

Cast

Sally Blane Janet Holman
John Darrow Nick Jarrett
J. Farrell MacDonald George Holman
Clara Kimball Young Mrs. Humphries
Eddie Phillips Allen Wells
David Rollins Alec
Matty Kemp Bert
David Durand David
Betty Grable Ruth Jarrett
Kenne Duncan Wedding Rehearsal Attendant (uncredited)
Mary Jane Irving Gwen (uncredited)
Dorothy Vernon Mrs. Meyers

Make it a double feature

2h 36m together

Probation

Tarzan Escapes

Both from Richard Thorpe.

More from Richard ThorpeSee all →

The Thin Man Goes Home

The Thin Man Goes Home · 1944

The Thin Man Goes Home

MovieComedyMystery

Hoping for a peaceful visit with his parents in the small town of Sycamore Springs, Nick Charles and his wife Nora soon find themselves surrounded by old rivalries, family tensions, and a mysterious murder. Nick’s father, a respected retired doctor, would much rather see his son give up detective work, but a suspicious shooting quickly draws Nick back into action. As Nick and Nora investigate, they uncover jealousy, deception, hidden motives, and a dangerous secret involving the town’s prominent citizens.

That's Entertainment, Part II

That's Entertainment, Part II · 1976

That's Entertainment, Part II

MovieDocumentaryMusic

Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire present more golden moments from the MGM film library, this time including comedy and drama as well as classic musical numbers.

How the West Was Won

How the West Was Won · 1962

How the West Was Won

The epic tale of the development of the American West from the 1830s through the Civil War to the end of the century, as seen through the eyes of one pioneer family.

Tarzan Escapes

Tarzan Escapes · 1936

MovieActionAdventure

White hunter Captain Fry tries to take Tarzan back to civilization, caged for public display. He arrives in the jungle with Jane's cousins, Eric and Rita, who want Jane's help in claiming a fortune left her.

The Prisoner of Zenda

The Prisoner of Zenda · 1952

The Prisoner of Zenda

A kingdom's ascending heir, marked for assassination, switches identities with a lookalike, who takes his place at the coronation. When the real king is kidnapped, his followers try to find him, while the stand-in falls in love with the king's intended bride, the beautiful Princess Flavia.

Ivanhoe

Ivanhoe · 1952

MovieAdventureRomance

Sir Walter Scott's classic story of the chivalrous Ivanhoe who joins with Robin of Locksley in the fight against Prince John and for the return of King Richard the Lionheart.

Carbine Williams

Carbine Williams · 1952

Carbine Williams

MovieCrimeDrama

David Marshall Williams is sent to a prison farm where he works in the tool shop and eventually develops the precursor of the famous M-1 Carbine automatic rifle used in World War II.

Tarzan's New York Adventure

Tarzan's New York Adventure · 1942

Tarzan's New York Adventure

MovieActionAdventure

Circus owner Buck Rand kidnaps Boy to perform in his show. He forces a pilot to fly him, Boy and his animal trainer out of the jungle. Tarzan and Jane follow them to New York.

Jailhouse Rock

Jailhouse Rock · 1957

MovieMusicDrama

Young convict Vince Everett, serving time for manslaughter, discovers his musical talent in prison and becomes a rock and roll star after his release, navigating fame and relationships.

The Earl of Chicago

The Earl of Chicago · 1940

The Earl of Chicago

A behind the times Chicago bootlegger goes to England with his lawyer to claim his estate as the Earl of Gorley.

Three Little Words

Three Little Words · 1950

Three Little Words

MovieMusicComedy

Song-and-dance man Bert Kalmar can't continue his stage career after an injury, so he has to earn his money as a lyricist. By chance, he meets composer Harry Ruby and their first song is a hit. Ruby gets Kalmar to marry his former partner Jessie Brown, and Kalmar and Jessie prevent Ruby from getting married to the wrong girls. But due to the fact that Ruby has caused a backer's withdrawal for a Kalmar play, they end their professional relationship.

The Last Challenge

The Last Challenge · 1967

The Last Challenge

An upstart outlaw baits a legendary gunslinger, now a marshal in love with a saloon keeper.

Fiesta

MovieDramaMusic

When a matador leaves town to focus on his music, his twin sister takes on his identity in the bullfighting ring.

All the Brothers Were Valiant

All the Brothers Were Valiant · 1953

All the Brothers Were Valiant

In the South Pacific islands, two brothers, one good and one bad, fight over the same girl and over a bag of pearls.

Tarzan Finds a Son!

Tarzan Finds a Son! · 1939

Tarzan Finds a Son!

MovieActionAdventure

A young couple die in a plane crash in the jungle. Their son is found by Tarzan and Jane who name him Boy and raise him as their own. Five years later a search party comes to find the young heir to millions of dollars. Jane agrees, against Tarzan's will, to lead them to civilization.

A Date with Judy

A Date with Judy · 1948

A Date with Judy

MovieMusicComedy

Best friends Judy and Carol compete for the affection of an older man during their high school dance. As Carol tries to rekindle Judy's relationship with Carol's bumbling brother, Oogie, Judy suspects that her father is having an affair with a beautiful dance instructor. The two girls team up to expose Judy's father -- who is only taking innocent dance lessons.

More Like This

All Quiet on the Western Front

All Quiet on the Western Front · 1930

All Quiet on the Western Front

When a group of idealistic young men join the German Army during the Great War, they are assigned to the Western Front, where their patriotism is destroyed by the harsh realities of combat.

Walk on Water

Walk on Water · 2004

Eyal, an Israeli Mossad agent, is given the mission to track down and kill the very old Alfred Himmelman, an ex-Nazi officer, who might still be alive. Pretending to be a tourist guide, he befriends his grandson Axel, in Israel to visit his sister Pia. The two men set out on a tour of the country, during which Axel challenges Eyal's values.

Anatomy of a Murder

Anatomy of a Murder · 1959

Anatomy of a Murder

MovieCrimeDrama

Semi-retired Michigan lawyer Paul Biegler takes the case of Army Lt. Manion, who murdered a local innkeeper after his wife claimed that he raped her. Over the course of an extensive trial, Biegler parries with District Attorney Lodwick and out-of-town prosecutor Claude Dancer to set his client free, but his case rests on the victim's mysterious business partner, who's hiding a dark secret.

All About My Mother

All About My Mother · 1999

All About My Mother

MovieComedyDrama

Following the tragic death of her teenage son, Manuela travels from Madrid to Barcelona in an attempt to contact the long-estranged father the boy never knew. She reunites with an old friend, an outspoken transgender sex worker, and befriends a troubled actress and a pregnant, HIV-positive nun.

Freaks

MovieDramaHorror

A circus' beautiful trapeze artist agrees to marry the leader of side-show performers, but his deformed friends discover she is only marrying him for his inheritance.

Three Colors: Red

Three Colors: Red · 1994

Three Colors: Red

MovieDramaMystery

Part-time model Valentine unexpectedly befriends a retired judge after she runs over his dog. At first, the grumpy man shows no concern about the dog, and Valentine decides to keep it. But the two form a bond when she returns to his house and catches him listening to his neighbors’ phone calls.

Le Divorce

Le Divorce · 2003

MovieDramaRomance

While visiting her sister in Paris, a young woman finds romance and learns her brother-in-law is a philanderer.

The Eye

The Eye · 2008

MovieDramaHorror

Violinist Sydney Wells was accidentally blinded by her sister Helen when she was five years old. She submits to a cornea transplantation, and while recovering from the operation, she realizes that she is seeing dead people.

The Secret Garden

The Secret Garden · 1993

The Secret Garden

MovieDramaFamily

A young British girl born and reared in India loses her neglectful parents in an earthquake. She is returned to England to live at her uncle's castle. Her uncle is very distant due to the loss of his wife ten years before. Neglected once again, she begins exploring the estate and discovers a garden that has been locked and forgotten. Aided by one of the servants' boys, she begins restoring the garden, and eventually discovers some other secrets of the manor.

Paper Moon

Paper Moon · 1973

MovieComedyCrime

During the Great Depression, a con man finds himself saddled with a young girl who may or may not be his daughter, and the two forge an unlikely partnership.

Howards End

Howards End · 1992

MovieDramaRomance

A saga of class relations and changing times in an Edwardian England on the brink of modernity, the film centers on liberal Margaret Schlegel, who, along with her sister Helen, becomes involved with two couples: wealthy, conservative industrialist Henry Wilcox and his wife Ruth, and the downwardly mobile working-class Leonard Bast and his mistress Jackie.

The Savages

The Savages · 2007

MovieDramaComedy

A sister and brother face the realities of familial responsibility as they begin to care for their ailing father.

The Black Balloon

The Black Balloon · 2008

The Black Balloon

Thomas is turning 16. His dad's in the army and they've just moved to a town in New South Wales; his mom is pregnant; his older brother, Charlie, who's autistic, has his own adolescent sexual issues. Thomas finds Charlie an embarrassment in public, so when Thomas is attracted to Jackie, a girl in his swim class, Charlie presents any number of obstacles when she drops by their house, when the three of them go for a walk, and during a family birthday dinner. Can Thomas find a way to enter the world of teen romance and still be his brother's keeper, or is Charlie's disability going to prove more than Thomas can handle?

Alfie

MovieComedyDrama

A tale of a philosophical womanizer who is forced to question his seemingly carefree existence.

The Lion King

The Lion King · 1994

MovieAnimationFamily

Young lion prince Simba, eager to one day become king of the Pride Lands, grows up under the watchful eye of his father Mufasa; all the while his villainous uncle Scar conspires to take the throne for himself. Amid betrayal and tragedy, Simba must confront his past and find his rightful place in the Circle of Life.

Prom Night

Prom Night · 2008

MovieHorrorDrama

Donna's senior prom is supposed to be the best night of her life, though a sadistic killer from her past has different plans for her and her friends.

I Love You Phillip Morris

I Love You Phillip Morris · 2010

I Love You Phillip Morris

MovieComedyCrime

Steven Russell leads a seemingly average life – an organ player in the local church, happily married to Debbie, and a member of the local police force. That is until he has a severe car accident that leads him to the ultimate epiphany: he’s gay and he’s going to live life to the fullest – even if he has to break the law to do it. Taking on an extravagant lifestyle, Steven turns to cons and fraud to make ends meet and is eventually sent to the State Penitentiary where he meets the love of his life, a sensitive, soft-spoken man named Phillip Morris. His devotion to freeing Phillip from jail and building the perfect life together prompts him to attempt (and often succeed at) one impossible con after another.

Rate this film

Your ratings make Midnight smarter