That Brennan Girl

In early 2018, The Museum of Modern Art in New York presented a Martin Scorsese–selected series of films produced at B-movie studio Republic Pictures that were recently restored by Paramount Pictures. One of the true discoveries from that series is That Brennan Girl, a drama about a San Francisco grifter raised by her single mother whose life changes dramatically when she too becomes a single mother and is taken under the wing of a fatherly con man. Full of surprises, this oddity straddles the line between melodrama and noir from start to finish. Starring James Dunn and Mona Freeman. (95 mins., 2K DCP)