Criminal Lawyer

Criminal Lawyer (1937)

Barry Brandon, a criminal lawyer, visits the night club of Denny Larkin, his primary client, with Betty Walker, a spoiled society girl. The police raid the club and Brandon pleads that the whole group is guilty, just to get even with Larkin for a rebuke. On the same night in court, Madge Carter is on trial for disorderly conduct, and Brandon volunteers to defend her, and proves the case against her if a frame-up. Finding that she is penniless, Brandon hires her as his secretary, and falls in love with her. Brandon is appointed district attorney and has ambitions of becoming the state governor. Having dinner at Betty's home, she maneuvers him, while he is drunk, into marrying her. Later, Madge is a witness when Larkin shoots down a fellow gangster. By threatening Brandon's life, he forces her to commit perjury at his trial, and say he fired in self-defense. Brandon, the prosecuting attorney (who has had his marriage to Betty annulled) knows she is lying but doesn't know why.

Date of release
1937-01-29
TMDB
6.5 / 10 (5)
Runtime
1h 12m
Genres
Action, Romance, Drama, Crime
Director
Edward Killy, Christy Cabanne

Casting

Interesting facts

Criminal Lawyer is a 1937 American drama film directed by Christy Cabanne from a screenplay by G. V. Atwater and Thomas Lennon, based on a story by Louis Stevens. The film stars Lee Tracy and Margot Grahame, with Eduardo Ciannelli and Erik Rhodes in support. RKO produced the film, which premiered in New York City on January 26, 1937, with a national release on January 29. It was the second time Stevens' story had been used for a film, following 1932's State's Attorney, an RKO production starring John Barrymore and Helen Twelvetrees, directed by George Archainbaud.

Production

In 1932, RKO had produced a film titled State's Attorney, starring John Barrymore and Helen Twelvetrees. The story was written by Louis Stevens, with a screenplay by Gene Fowler and Rowland Brown. In 1937, the studio decided to remake the film, and this time gave Stevens' story to Thomas Lennon to write the script. At the same time they announced that Cliff Reid had been assigned as the supervising producer.

In January 1937, it was announced that Erik Rhodes would be singing "Tonight, Lover, Tonight", which was penned by Jack Stern and Harry Tobias. Right after the New Year, the film's release date was announced as January 29, 1937. The film opened on January 29. The National Legion of Decency graded the film class "A-1", making it suitable for general audiences.

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