Abandoned

Abandoned is the dark tale of a newspaper reporter getting involved with a young woman who is looking into the disappearance of her older sister. The mystery begins as a missing persons case that ultimately becomes far more complex when it starts to delve into the seedy underworld of illegal adoptions and murder. This film gets credit for taking a familiar trope of the murdered sibling and taking it into unexpected areas. The film is firing best when exploring the growing relationship between leads Dennis O’Keefe and Gale Storm but falters whenever trying to explain just how the illegal adoption racket even works. It’s designed to feel semi-documentary complete with some opening and closing narration and has a delightfully wicked performance by Meg Randall as the head of the illegal baby racket. Still, not everything gels and, aside from having a rather unique on-screen underworld business model, this film struggles to keep it all up in the air at the same time. Worth a watch and memorable for the mystery itself, but beyond that it is strictly formulaic. 1949 - 78 minutes