James Whale directed this courtroom melodrama about a lawyer (FRANK MORGAN) defending a man (PAUL LUKAS) on trial for murdering his unfaithful wife (GLORIA STUART). Stuart was having an affair with a very briefly seen WALTER PIDGEON. Morgan soon suspects his own wife (NANCY CARROLL) of infidelity.
Although it has only a brief running time of one hour and seven minutes, it seems longer than that. It drags in places and there's a funeral silence on the soundtrack which is devoid of a musical background almost all the way through. Bursts of melodrama are not accompanied by the usual orchestral flourishes and this deadens some of the material and dates the film and the dialog badly.
CHARLES GRAPEWIN, DONALD COOK and Christian RUB have very small roles. The film revolves entirely about the behavior of Morgan, Lukas and NANCY CARROLL. By the time the plot moves to the courtroom defense of Lukas, we get to see Frank Morgan do some serious emoting. He's up to the chore but, as usual in films from the early '30s, the style is overly melodramatic. Hollywood never could resist resorting to overkill for courtroom histrionics.
Interesting treatment of a theme so often played out in films over the years--but not unusual enough to be distinctive. The miracle is that it manages to tell a complex story in such a brief running time.
GLORIA STUART's beauty is striking. She stands out impressively in a minor role.
Although it has only a brief running time of one hour and seven minutes, it seems longer than that. It drags in places and there's a funeral silence on the soundtrack which is devoid of a musical background almost all the way through. Bursts of melodrama are not accompanied by the usual orchestral flourishes and this deadens some of the material and dates the film and the dialog badly.
CHARLES GRAPEWIN, DONALD COOK and Christian RUB have very small roles. The film revolves entirely about the behavior of Morgan, Lukas and NANCY CARROLL. By the time the plot moves to the courtroom defense of Lukas, we get to see Frank Morgan do some serious emoting. He's up to the chore but, as usual in films from the early '30s, the style is overly melodramatic. Hollywood never could resist resorting to overkill for courtroom histrionics.
Interesting treatment of a theme so often played out in films over the years--but not unusual enough to be distinctive. The miracle is that it manages to tell a complex story in such a brief running time.
GLORIA STUART's beauty is striking. She stands out impressively in a minor role.