Incannerax What a waste of my time!!!

Nonureva Really Surprised!

Sharkflei Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

LeonLouisRicci This one was Predictable going in, an Overrated Director, John Sturges, and an Actor, when commenting on, becomes Blasphemous to call Overrated, but a case could be made, Spencer Tracy, always seemed to be Old On Screen even in the Early Days and although He could be Commanding and Intense, the Range was Small and He Rarely Played anything other than Spencer Tracy. But He is much Beloved.MGM was Late to Film-Noir and Never seemed to Get it quite Right and this is another Excellent Example of the Studio Trying but Coming Up Short. John Alton's Cinematography in the First Act and the Third Act give the Film a Distinctive Urban-Crime Feel and the Ending is Surprising considering the Studio.But the Film is Clunky at times and Tracy Struggles to show the Difference between His Drunk and Non Drunk Scenes. James Arness as the one on Trial is Miscast and pretty Stiff. The Rest of the Familiar Cast go through the Motions Without Much Flare, even the Flamboyant Criminals.Overall, it is Highly Melodramatic and Not a lot of it Works that Well. But it is Worth a Watch for Spencer Tracy Fans, John Alton's Noir-ish Look and to See Director Sturgess before He Became completely Formulaic and a Mainstream Hack that Delivered Popcorn Pictures Masquerading as Artful Cinema like "The Great Escape" (1963) and "The Magnificent Seven" (1960).

Robert J. Maxwell This production seems to get tepid reviews but it deserves a bit better than that. Tracy is a recovering alcoholic who returns to criminal law to defend the neighbors' son.A nice cast, with many familiar faces, and Tracy delivers in his own quietly flabby and unpretentious way. His character finds the trial difficult. Lying witnesses work against him. He begins to forget lines and behaves clumsily in front of the court. He takes a couple of belts. He bribes a witness. Things fall apart; the center can't hold.Then he makes a final, self-sacrificial attempt to redeem himself and save the defendant whom he knows to be innocent.It's well photographed too, sly and dark, and Sturges' direction is efficient and to the point.It's rather a good film. Courtroom dramas have to be really BAD to be bad. This one isn't bad.

vincentlynch-moonoi 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.

whpratt1 Spencer Tracy,(James P. Curtayne), plays a lawyer who wants to get away from Criminal Law and go into Civil suits with not very much pressure, because he has a drinking problem. Jim Curtayne's daughter,(Diana Lynn),(Virginia,Ginny,Curtayne) is staying with her father and keeping an eye on him for at least two years, in order to keep him away from the booze. James Curtayne soon gets involved with a family he has known all his life and decides to help them when their son gets involved with a murder. John Hodiak,(Louis Barra) is the Defense Attorney and gives James Curtayne a hard time in the court room. Pat O'Brien,(Detective Vincent Ricks) is an old friend of James Curtayne and tries to help him stay focused on his law case and does give him some important leads. There are many twists and turns in this crime drama and Spencer Tracy gives one of his best performances in this Classic 1951 film.