The Story of Molly X

There’s a moving scene in Crane Wilbur’s The Story of Molly X in which Molly (June Havoc), through her prison window, watches a phalanx of nuns assemble in front to sing Christmas carols to the convicts; the moment seems to represent the beginning of Molly’s reform, a change of heart finally to use her prison sentence to become a better person. Molly X (an alias) is serving time for leading a series of robberies of security transits, even after having escaped charges for murdering her friend Rod Markle (Elliot Lewis) for killing her late husband; however, just as she turns the corner toward the atonement that she’s long resisted (“You can’t change me! You’re never gonna change me!”), Markle’s girlfriend Anne (Dorothy Hart) shows up, convicted of forgery, and begins taunting Molly for the murder charge she knows she evaded. In a role that makes little use of his talents, Charles McGraw plays police captain Breen. This is certainly not one of the great noirs, but it stands out for several reasons, not the least of which is probably the most violent fight between women in the cycle: no standard cat fight, this is raw, fists-pounding-on-faces action, and it’s a bit shocking for the time.