Juzgado criminal

Over the years I have enjoyed all the films that Tom Conway has performed in, such as the "Falcon" Series, "Voodoo Woman",'57 and many other "B" films. Also the fact that he was the brother of famous actor, George Sanders. In this film Conway plays Steve Barnes, who is a lawyer and also running for political office and gets involved with Robert Armstrong (Vic Wright),"Mighty Joe Young",'49, who is the owner of CLUB CIRCLE and has gangster connections. Steve's girlfriend, Martha O'Driscoll,(Georgia Gale),"Carnegie Hall",'47 gets involved with a murder and Steve comes to her aid. The court room proceedings will make you laugh and you can clearly see that this is a very CLASSIC B FILM from the 1940's but very enjoyable and entertaining!

Tom Conway is a defense attorney running for the office of District Attorney on a platform of cleaning up corruption. This puts him at odds with mobster Robert Armstrong, who tries to blackmail into dropping his crusade. They tussle and Conway accidentally kills Armstrong. With no witnesses, he opts to sneak away, but unluckily for him, his girlfriend Martha O'Driscoll, who works in Armstrong's nightclub, discovers the body and is blamed for the murder. Conway tries to confess, but nobody believes him leaving him to defend O'Driscoll in court for a murder he committed.

Robert Wise's first foray into film noir is an extremely tight little B film (it runs a couple of minutes over an hour) with a truly ludicrous plot, but a lot of really fun moments and a good lead performance from Conway to carry you through.

Criminal Court (1946)

** 1/2 (out of 4)

Robert Wise directed this RKO noir about lawyer Steve Barnes (Tom Conway) who accidentally kills a gangster (Robert Armstrong) but he's thrown for a loop when his girlfriend (Martha O'Driscoll) is accused of the crime because she worked at his nightclub. The lawyer, who just happens to be running for D.A., tries to confess to the crime but no one believes him so he must find another way to prove her innocence. CRIMINAL COURT is a "B" movie that is so far-fetched that at times you really have to laugh wondering if the screenwriter wasn't just making things up as the filming went along. I say that because there are so many twists and turns in this film yet every single one of them are ones that you'll see coming from a mile away. It certainly doesn't help that all of them perfectly fit in place not because they're smart but because they're just so obvious. As far as a mystery goes, this thing is about as simple as they come but none of this completely kills the film thanks in large part to some fine direction by Wise and some fun performances. Conway is completely believable in his role as the hot shot lawyer who will stop at nothing to win a case. Montgomery only appears in half the film but he was a lot of fun as well. Both O'Driscoll and June Clayworth are good in their parts even though both of their characters are probably the weakest in the film. CRIMINIAL COURT certainly isn't going to win any awards but at just 63-minutes the thing moves along well enough that fans of the genre should enjoy it.

This is a good noir-ish courtroom drama that is well acted and nicely paced, directed by Robert Wise. It is a b- movie but is very solidly made and it will hold your attention.

Tom Conway stars as a criminal defense lawyer with a flamboyant courtroom style. In one particularly long courtroom scene early in the film Conway delivers a stunning performance. Anyone who has any doubts about Conway's acting abilities should view that one scene and they will change their mind. Little known Martha O'Driscoll is very beautiful in this, her nightclub scenes are well staged and her overall performance is first rate. Many fine performers such as Robert Armstrong and the great Addison Richards round out the cast.

If you want to see courtroom dramatics and cunning legal maneuvers in a mid-1940's film-noir setting, "Criminal Court" is recommended for you.

Lawyer Tom Conway (Steve) is on a campaign to become elected DA at the same time as battling court cases against the local criminal gang. He finds himself having to defend his girlfriend Martha O'Driscoll on a charge of murdering one of the top bad guys Robert Armstrong (Vic). O'Driscoll is innocent but things don't look good for her. Conway has one chance of saving her from being guilty - he has to find the one witness to the crime that can save her.

The cast are all good and Tom Conway is very easy to relate to with his relaxed approach. It's a standard crime story that's easy to follow and keeps you watching to see how lawyer Tom Conway is going to swing things in his favour. Nothing special going on but still entertaining.