I should begin by saying that I'm a tremendous fan of Spencer Tracy...second only to Cary Grant. But even having said that, I think this is a very fine film noir which interestingly combines courtroom drama with back alley thugs.
Spencer Tracy plays a criminal defense lawyer who demoted himself to civil law after alcoholism took its toll. But then a family he has long known pleads with him to take their son's (a young James Arness) murder case. Tracy starts out strong in court, but his inner doubts soon begin to take their toll and he begins to romance liquor again...and looses the case. But he won't stop, and ultimately proves his client innocent, but at the cost of his life as he is gunned down on a dark street. You'll almost certainly see that coming, but there is a high degree of suspense here.
The acting in this film is quite good. Tracy is dependable as he almost always was, and this must have been a difficult film for him, considering his own problems with alcoholism. Maybe that's why he plays it so convincingly. Pat O'Brien plays a cop friend just about the way you'd expect him to. John Hodiak is very good as the District Attorney...too bad his life as an actor was cut short. Diana Lynn, who never really made it big, is very convincing here as the daughter concerned with the pressure her father will be under during the trail, as well as the alcoholism problem.
One for the DVD shelf? Yes, if you're a Tracy fan! Maybe, even if you're not.
Spencer Tracy plays a criminal defense lawyer who demoted himself to civil law after alcoholism took its toll. But then a family he has long known pleads with him to take their son's (a young James Arness) murder case. Tracy starts out strong in court, but his inner doubts soon begin to take their toll and he begins to romance liquor again...and looses the case. But he won't stop, and ultimately proves his client innocent, but at the cost of his life as he is gunned down on a dark street. You'll almost certainly see that coming, but there is a high degree of suspense here.
The acting in this film is quite good. Tracy is dependable as he almost always was, and this must have been a difficult film for him, considering his own problems with alcoholism. Maybe that's why he plays it so convincingly. Pat O'Brien plays a cop friend just about the way you'd expect him to. John Hodiak is very good as the District Attorney...too bad his life as an actor was cut short. Diana Lynn, who never really made it big, is very convincing here as the daughter concerned with the pressure her father will be under during the trail, as well as the alcoholism problem.
One for the DVD shelf? Yes, if you're a Tracy fan! Maybe, even if you're not.