Some stories make large demands on the credulity of their audiences. Jonathan Swift, in the interest of satire, asks his readers to imagine little men six inches high. "The Company She Keeps," in the interest of glamour, asks the audience to imagine Lizabeth Scott as a female parole officer. It is just too much.

Jane Greer plays an erratic, not-too-bright parolee who gives up shoplifting in favor of chintz, pressure cookers, and Dennis O'Keefe. Her portrayal of a charmingly brashful girl is excellent. O'Keefe, as a columnist who jilts the parole officer to marry the parolee, is a poor complement to Miss Greer. As the title suggests, she keeps some pretty dreary company in this film.

A number of routine conflicts, presented in an unoriginal way, further weaken the screenplay. Miss Scott has to choose between losing her newsman fiance and using her legal power to block the marriage; Miss Greer must choose between her old ways and going straight.

Director John Cromwell treats this trite subject matter in an unimaginative way, with the result that the picture rarely seems realistic, despite the fine acting of Miss Greer. At many points, the plot is crippled by weak dialogue. When Miss Scott asks the parole board to return her rival's civil liberties so she can marry the newsman; she says, "Please give her back her civil liberties." Small wonder that the answer is "no."

On stage, Joan Blondell heads an extensive stage show. Peggy Ryan and Ray MacDonald present a number of cute dance routines and Bert Wheeler gives an amusing recitation of "What is a Boy!" Singer Eddie Fisher does remarkable things with a voice worn thin by overwork--or emotion. Hank Ladd and the Marino Sisters, three acrobats with plenty of bounce to the ounce, round out the cast.