''Counsel for Crime'' is a 1937 American

crime film Crime film is a film belonging to the crime fiction genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and fiction. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine with many other genres, such as Drama (film and television), dr ...

directed by

John Brahm John Brahm (August 17, 1893 – October 12, 1982) was a German film and television director. His films include ''The Undying Monster'' (1942), ''The Lodger (1944 film), The Lodger'' (1944), ''Hangover Square (film), Hangover Square'' (1945), ''Th ...

starring

Otto Kruger Otto Kruger (September 6, 1885 – September 6, 1974) was an American actor. Originally a Broadway matinée idol, he established a niche as a charming villain in films, such as in Alfred Hitchcock's ''Saboteur (film), Saboteur'' (1942) and Dougla ...

Douglass Montgomery Robert Douglass Montgomery (also credited as Kent Douglass; October 29, 1909 – July 23, 1966) was an American film actor. Early years The son of Chester Montgomery, a jeweler, and Leona Smith, Montgomery graduated from Los Angeles High ...

and Jacqueline Wells.

Plot

Following his graduation from

law school A law school (also known as a law centre/center, college of law, or faculty of law) is an institution, professional school, or department of a college or university specializing in legal education, usually involved as part of a process for b ...

, Senator Robert Maddox's (Hall) adopted son Paul (Montgomery) is offered a job at Bill Mellon's (Kruger) law firm. Mellon, an unscrupulous

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

yer, is actually Paul's real father, but he keeps the fact a secret from him. When Paul discovers Mellon's corruption, he quits and lands a job as

assistant district attorney In the United States, a district attorney (DA), county attorney, county prosecutor, state attorney, state's attorney, prosecuting attorney, commonwealth's attorney, or solicitor is the chief prosecutor or chief law enforcement officer represe ...

. Soon after taking the position, Paul spearheads a state investigation into

legal malpractice Legal malpractice is the term for negligence, breach of fiduciary duty, or breach of contract by a lawyer during the provision of legal services that causes harm to a client. Examples A common example of legal malpractice involves the lawyer's mis ...

. This worries Mellon and prompts him to assign a criminal to implicate those investigating him in a scandal. When the criminal learns about Paul's birth, he is accidentally shot by Mellon in an effort to conceal the information. Paul successfully prosecutes his own father, who is convicted of

second-degree murder Murder is the unlawful killing of another human without justification or valid excuse committed with the necessary intention as defined by the law in a specific jurisdiction. ("The killing of another person without justification or excus ...

because he refuses to discuss the content of the papers over which he and Mitchell were struggling, thus protecting Paul and his mother.

Cast

as Bill Mellon *

as Paul Maddox * Jacqueline Wells as Ann McIntyre *

Thurston Hall Ernest Thurston Hall (May 10, 1882 – February 20, 1958) was an American film, stage and television actor.Aylesworth, Thomas G. and Bowman, John S. (1987). ''The World Almanac Who's Who of Film''. World Almanac. . Pp. 186-187. Career Stag ...

as Senator Robert Maddox *

Nana Bryant Nana Irene Bryant (November 23, 1888 – December 24, 1955) was an American film, stage, and television actress. She appeared in more than 100 films between 1935 and 1955. Biography Bryant was born 1888 in Cincinnati, Ohio. She appeared in ...

as Mrs. Maddox *

Gene Morgan Gene Morgan (March 12, 1893 – August 13, 1940) was an American actor. He appeared in 111 films between 1926 in film, 1926 and 1941 in film, 1941. Background Morgan was born in Racine, Wisconsin. In his early roles he was cast in westerns ...

as Friday *

Marc Lawrence Marc Lawrence (born Max Goldsmith; February 17, 1910 – November 28, 2005) was an American character actor who specialized in underworld types. He has also been credited as F. A. Foss, Marc Laurence and Marc C. Lawrence. Early life Lawrence w ...

as Edwin Mitchell *

Robert Warwick Robert Warwick (born Robert Taylor Bien; October 9, 1878 – June 6, 1964) was an American stage, film and television actor with over 200 film appearances. A matinee idol during the silent film era, he also prospered after the introduction ...

as Asa Stewart * Stanley Fields as George Evans

References

External links

* * {{John Brahm 1937 films 1937 crime drama films American crime drama films American black-and-white films Columbia Pictures films 1930s English-language films Films directed by John Brahm 1930s American films English-language crime drama films