Attorney for the Defense

Columbia in the 30's was more than Frank Capra and the Three Stooges. They also cranked out some precode dramas that were every bit as good in plot and pacing as those of Warner Brothers, but because Columbia didn't have the star power Warner Brothers had, these films are often unremembered today. This is one of the better Columbia precodes, not because you can't see how it's probably going to play out from ten miles away, but because of the fine performances from stars of which you've probably not seen much.

Edmund Lowe does a fine job of playing district attorney William J. Burton. The film opens with defendant James Wallace (Dwight Frye) being sentenced to die for a murder of which he's just been convicted. Wallace doesn't take this well, and makes a short manic speech about how D.A. Burton is guilty of murder if he fries. Burton is unmoved - until it is discovered that Wallace was innocent after he's already been executed. Wracked with guilt, Burton resigns as D.A., takes up supporting Wallace's widow and son, and also becomes a defense attorney.

Ten years pass, and Burton has somewhat made amends for his past wrong. Wallace's son has become as his own, is graduating law school, and will soon be practicing alongside Burton in his office. Also, Burton has formed and is legal counsel to a civic reform movement that is aiming at the conviction of a bootlegger who has been bribing public officials - Nick Quinn. Nick is the long time lover of Burton's old lover, Val Lorraine (Evelyn Brent). Val comes to visit Burton in his office to try to get Burton to lay off of her long-time meal ticket - but neither the promise of sex nor violence moves Burton an inch.

Back at her apartment, Nick comes up with a new angle to get Burton off of his back - one that involves using Burton's young ward Paul Wallace. All of this eventually leads Burton back into the courtroom as defense attorney, but this time he is representing himself as he is on trial for his own life.

Edmund Lowe was very effective at playing a somewhat likable scoundrel during the precode era, and that is also the truth here. Although he is much more likable here than I've seen him in other roles. Here he is not out so much for himself and he shows a reliable if somewhat rusty moral compass. He can still show the hard cynical side though, and all of this together make for a very interesting character. Evelyn Brent is fantastic here as femme fatale Val Lorraine. Always dressed to the nines, she'll do whatever and use whoever it takes to get her own way and keep herself in ermine. Some of the best scenes in the movie consist of her sparring with Burton - these people both know who they're dealing with. Constance Cummings is the other essential player in this film in a low-key but important role as Burton's girl Friday and secretary Ruth Barry.

Highly recommended for the precode fan.

***SPOILERS*** Being the 18th man to be sent directly to the Sing Sing electric chair James Wallace, Dwight Frye, makes a ruckus at his trial sentencing accusing the local D.A William "Hot Seat" Burton, Edmund Lowe, of railroading him like the other 17 men prosecuted by him just to get publicity in order to get himself elected in his upcoming race against Governorn F.D Roosevelt for governor of the Empire State of New York. This big victory on "Hot Seat's" part soon falls apart after Wallace's execution that the murder that he was zapped or executed for was admitted in a death bed confession, in knowing that he's got nothing to lose anyway, by the real murderer as he was about to check out for good!

In Burton trying to repent for sending an innocent man James Wallace as well as who knows how many more to the electric chair he takes it upon himself to pay for the late James Wallace's son Paul's, Don Dillaway, collage tuition in order to make up for what he did to his dad. Paul being both young and in love as well as a bit stupid falls head over heels for the two timing gold digger Val Lorraine,Evelyn Brent, who was a former old flame of Burton. It's Lorraine who uses the poor and love sick sop to steal a number of document from Burton's office safe in order to blackmail him that can have him disbarred. That in him stealing cash or chump change from his clients; That they probably didn't miss anyway.

***SPOILERS*** The rub in all this is that after Paul found out what Larraine was up to and how she played him, her lover, for a sucker he got gloriously drunk and passed out in her apartment only to find her dead when he finally, after about 5 hours, came to. In pops "Hot Seat" Burton who to save Paul's drunk and sorry a** from getting burned takes responsibly for Lorraine's murder, or so were made to believe, and is set to got on trial for it in order to prove his, Burton's, innocence. Using all the skills of a shyster or lawyer Burton draws out the true killer of Lorraine by playing the fool and letting the prosecution make him look, with him helping out, like a complete idiot on the witness stand. The link that prove's that the person who murdered Lorainne wasn't him is a bruise she had on her neck that was the results of a ring that her killer wore. Which Burton used to punch out one of the members of the audience with to prove his case!

P.S With all that now behind him Burton finally proposes to his long time and suffering private secretary Ruth Barry, Constance Commings,who put up with all his BS all these years and waited for him to finally pop the question. That's before he drops dead, he's some 15 years older then her, or is killed by one of his outraged clients or or one of those, after being released from prison, innocent men that he sent up the river.

There's a great script here, fine players and some dynamite camera work by Ted Tetzlaff in this story about District Attorney Edmund Lowe. He sends the wrong man to the electric chair, quits to go into defense work and make amends, and winds up on trial for the murder of Evelyn Brent. However, there is something severely lacking that stops this script from Jo Swerling, who did great scripts for great directors like Capra and Hitchcock, from being great. Perhaps it's the way that every time you expect things to burst loose, the shot changes from a pacing moving camera into a tight two-shot. Perhaps it's the lack of overt action -- although given that Swerling wrote the screenplay for Hitchcock's claustrophobic LIFEBOAT, that answer doesn't feel right. Maybe it's the way that everyone wears their clothes, as if they've just come from a fresh pressing at the tailor shop.

Whatever is wrong with this movie, it winds up being too talky. Given that the director is Irving Cummings, who started directing in 1921, and that stars Lowe and Evelyn Brent were seasoned silent performers, it should work brilliantly, But it just works very well instead. Ah, well.

Attorney for the Defense (1932)

*** (out of 4)

Far-fetched but entertaining courtroom drama has Edmund Lowe playing lawyer William Burton who makes a living and headline off of sending people to the electric chair. Things change when he sends a man (Dwight Frye) to the chair who turns out to be innocent so the lawyer gives up his D.A. job and promises to support the man's widow and child. Ten years later the kid is now an adult in college and might have killed a woman who was trying to blackmail the lawyer. ATTORNEY FOR THE DEFENSE comes from Columbia and is a good example of a pre-code drama with some real sexuality as well as a dark plot full of twists and murder. I'm not going to sit here and say the film was flawless but it's certainly an entertaining picture that manages to keep one caught up in the story from the story to the end. I've always been very hit and miss on Lowe as an actor with most of his films and performances just not connecting with me but that's certainly not the case here because this is the best I've ever seen him. I thought the performance was excellent no matter what the screenplay called for. This includes him being cocky early on and more sensitive towards the end of the film. In the movie's highlight, after news breaks that the man was innocent, the lawyer goes to see the man's family and this is an exceptionally great sequence with Lowe really selling the emotions. Evelyn Brent is a real snake as the woman using blackmail and Constance Cummings is also very good as the lawyer's partner. Donald Dilloway is also good as the grown up boy and Dorothy Peterson is also good in her role. The supporting cast includes the before mentioned Frye, Nat Pendleton and Clarence Muse. The courtroom scene contains some very good energy, although the twist in the story is pretty far-fetched. Still, fans of these early courtroom dramas has enough working here to make this worth sitting through.

Every now and then a real long shot pays off so to speak with B films. You'll get one that's really good with some fine performances and a great script from a cast without any really big name players. Such a film is Attorney For The Defense.

Edmund Lowe is an ambitious prosecutor who after he sends an innocent Dwight Frye to the electric chair turns defense attorney. He also helps to provide for the widow and son of Frye, Dorothy Peterson and Douglas Haig. Fast forward several years and Lowe's now in the big chips and he's given girl friend Evelyn Brent the heave ho because she's been two timing him with crook Bradley Page.

But Page is now facing some real jail time with evidence that Lowe's gathered as head of a citizen's committee. In he sends Evelyn Brent to work her charms on Lowe and if not on him on Donald Dillaway who is the now grown son of Dwight Frye. But Brent's got an agenda all her own.

Attorney For The Defense suffers from some sloppy editing so you have to jump a little to make the plot connections. This was treated I'm sure as an assembly line product from Columbia Pictures so no great care was given it. But the performances here are really good, this would have been given much better care at Warner Brothers or MGM at the time.

Evelyn Brent is one two timing woman, we wouldn't see a piece of work like her until Jane Greer in Out Of The Past. She steals the film in every scene she's in. Constance Cummings is also in Attorney For The Defense as Lowe's girl Friday. She's written a bit too goody goody just to contrast Brent.

Lowe's citizen's committee reminded the movie going public at the time of the committee headed by Samuel Seabury in New York investigating corruption there. In fact when Lowe gets in a jackpot of his own, Cummings reaches out to big-shot defense attorney Joe Steiner (Max Steuer) played by Eddie Kane.

Kane won't do it without some big bucks so Lowe decides to challenge the adage about a fool for a client. He does one amazing job as his own counsel. It's a courtroom scene any player would sell his soul to do.

Sad that Attorney For The Defense was done at a poverty row outfit like Columbia was at the time. Done at Warner Brothers this would have been a classic. It's still pretty good.