"You take the rap. I'll swear it was self-defence." Thus the dreary dialogue of a small-time New York gang that characterises this story.
The non-killer is Victor Mature, who thankfully walks free - only to find he's walked into a trap. The court needs to double-check his ID, and discovers that his immigrant parents were never naturalised, making him liable for deportation on account of his long criminal record.
The real killer is William Bendix, to me the face of the Forties, popping-up in a hundred supporting parts, though seldom in the gangster role, where he can't seem to carry conviction.
Mature has to spend a long day and evening at the immigration centre at Ellis Island, where he appears to acquire a social conscience for the first time - perhaps a bit too obviously right-on. His idealistic lawyer is played by Terry Moore, whose fetching smile looks only barely adult, so that the relationship between them does not ring true.
We can't spoil the ending, but let's just reveal that the court scene includes one of those sermons (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Great Dictator), inspired by a few lines from the late Thomas Wolfe (not the 'Bonfire' one) that Terry has recited to him, which becomes his Road to Damascus.
A very contrived scene where Mature robs Bendix of a notebook full of incriminating details. And the music-track occasionally too loud, drowning dialogue that might (conceivably, I suppose) have been worth listening to. Mature remains a brilliant mix of charm and menace, according to the mood of those dark, expressive eyes.
The non-killer is Victor Mature, who thankfully walks free - only to find he's walked into a trap. The court needs to double-check his ID, and discovers that his immigrant parents were never naturalised, making him liable for deportation on account of his long criminal record.
The real killer is William Bendix, to me the face of the Forties, popping-up in a hundred supporting parts, though seldom in the gangster role, where he can't seem to carry conviction.
Mature has to spend a long day and evening at the immigration centre at Ellis Island, where he appears to acquire a social conscience for the first time - perhaps a bit too obviously right-on. His idealistic lawyer is played by Terry Moore, whose fetching smile looks only barely adult, so that the relationship between them does not ring true.
We can't spoil the ending, but let's just reveal that the court scene includes one of those sermons (Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, The Great Dictator), inspired by a few lines from the late Thomas Wolfe (not the 'Bonfire' one) that Terry has recited to him, which becomes his Road to Damascus.
A very contrived scene where Mature robs Bendix of a notebook full of incriminating details. And the music-track occasionally too loud, drowning dialogue that might (conceivably, I suppose) have been worth listening to. Mature remains a brilliant mix of charm and menace, according to the mood of those dark, expressive eyes.