Has anyone else noticed that some of the best underrated or little known movie gems of the Forties and Fifties have only one word titles? I'm thinking of films like Bogart's "Conflict (1945), "Detour (1945) and "Impact" (1949). All of these turned out to be nifty noir thrillers, and although "Illegal" may not totally fit the noir definition, it still packs a decent punch with it's compelling story line.
This one also has Edgar G. Robinson as a less than scrupulous prosecuting attorney who switches sides after a man who's convicted of murder turns out to be innocent, but winds up in the electric chair right before Victor Scott (Robinson) can make the save. You know, there was something odd about that courtroom scene when Edward Clary (DeForest Kelley) was found guilty. The jury delivered their guilty charge immediately after Scott's closing argument, so why wouldn't they have deliberated on a verdict? Somebody goofed big time on that one.
Now I'm not familiar enough with courtroom proceedings to know if Scott's antics could ever fly in a court of law, but they certainly livened up this story. How about Scott decking Henry Kulky coming off the witness stand to prove a point? Or downing the vial of poison with a narrow forty five minute window to get his stomach pumped? I think Robinson's character probably stretched the legal definition of being out of order to the max with those stunts, but the judge and the opposing attorneys in those cases didn't seem that fazed by it, so who am I to say?
In hindsight, this film has an eclectic cast of supporting actors on hand, with folks like Nina Foch, Hugh Marlowe, Ellen Corby and Ed Platt appearing in the story, and if you keep your eye on Jayne Mansfield (and who wouldn't?), you'll notice that she lent new meaning to the definition of hourglass figure when she appeared as a witness in the final courtroom scene. Not bad for one of her very first screen appearances.
This one also has Edgar G. Robinson as a less than scrupulous prosecuting attorney who switches sides after a man who's convicted of murder turns out to be innocent, but winds up in the electric chair right before Victor Scott (Robinson) can make the save. You know, there was something odd about that courtroom scene when Edward Clary (DeForest Kelley) was found guilty. The jury delivered their guilty charge immediately after Scott's closing argument, so why wouldn't they have deliberated on a verdict? Somebody goofed big time on that one.
Now I'm not familiar enough with courtroom proceedings to know if Scott's antics could ever fly in a court of law, but they certainly livened up this story. How about Scott decking Henry Kulky coming off the witness stand to prove a point? Or downing the vial of poison with a narrow forty five minute window to get his stomach pumped? I think Robinson's character probably stretched the legal definition of being out of order to the max with those stunts, but the judge and the opposing attorneys in those cases didn't seem that fazed by it, so who am I to say?
In hindsight, this film has an eclectic cast of supporting actors on hand, with folks like Nina Foch, Hugh Marlowe, Ellen Corby and Ed Platt appearing in the story, and if you keep your eye on Jayne Mansfield (and who wouldn't?), you'll notice that she lent new meaning to the definition of hourglass figure when she appeared as a witness in the final courtroom scene. Not bad for one of her very first screen appearances.