Babies for Sale (1940)
Directed by Charles Barton
Genres - Drama |
Release Date - Jun 14, 1940 (USA - Unknown), Jun 14, 1940 (USA) |
Run Time - 65 min. |
Countries - United States |
MPAA Rating - NR
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Synopsis by Hal Erickson
Telecast dozens of times on cable television back in the 1980s, Columbia's Babies for Sale was another stepping-stone on Glenn Ford's road to stardom. The story concerns a crooked adoption racket, operating out of a supposedly charitable maternity home. The establishment's staff uses methods of persuasion both subtle and overt to convince the unfortunate mothers-to-be to give up custody of their unborn children, which are then sold to adoptive parents who've had no luck within legal channels. Those expectant mothers who protest against these shady goings-on have a habit of disappearing without a trace. The racket is exposed by crusading reporter Steve Burton (Glenn Ford), with the aid of inquisitive maternity-home inmate Ruth Williams (Rochelle Hudson).
Characteristics
Keywords
adoption, black-market, brutality, capture, corruption, evidence, expose [revelation], investigation, journalism, kidnapping, mother, offbeat, perversion, physical-abuse, police, reporter, rights, tension, toddlers, victim, witness, woman