Criminal Court

Tom Conway stars in Criminal Court, a 1946 B movie also starring Martha O'Driscoll, and June Clayworth.

Conway plays Steve Barnes, a lawyer with a great reputation who is going to run for DA. When his girlfriend (O'Driscoll, who in real life married big money and got out of Dodge) is accused of the murder of the gangster whose club she worked in, he defends her.

It was an accidental shooting, and he actually did it. There is an eye witness, if only he can find out who it is -- and there is a lot of resistance to him finding out.

This is a very light noir without much suspense, mildly entertaining. I always enjoy Tom Conway, and I wasn't that familiar with O'Driscoll, so I found it enjoyable.

Director Robert Wise, near the beginning of his career, made a decent lawyer film with a good ending. There's not much suspense, and the plot device owes much to the play, "Hat, Coat and Glove"; and it is no surprise that Tom Conway was in a film re-make of that play when it was made into a movie a second time. While this might not be great noir, it is certainly a "B movie" that is easy to watch.

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!

"Criminal Court" proves that just because a film is a B-movie (with a small budget and brief running time) that is can STILL be a heck of a good film. Due to really good writing and acting, it works and is worth your time.

The film begins with Steve Barnes running for District Attorney (Tom Conway) on a true platform to clean up the government. He and a group of his colleagues have done a lot to investigate graft--and they've finally got the evidence to make heads roll. However, a local mobster (Robert Armstrong) is not about to let his organization be brought down without a fight. And, during a confrontation between the two men, the hood draws a gun Steve and tries to kill him. Barnes is able to get the gun away from him and when it falls, it goes off--killing the gangster! This is a bit difficult to believe, I know but stick with the film. Where it all goes next kept surprising me. Time and again, little twists came that took the film in directions I hadn't anticipated--which is rare, as B-movies are often very predictable. I would say more but just don't to spoil the film.

Other reviews have mentioned this, but Conway was George Sanders' brother. Both were incredibly erudite and spoke with a glorious accent--and brought a nice sophistication to even the simplest of roles. Exciting and worth your time--this is yet another one of Conway's B performances that elevated the material to a slightly better level.

Steve Barnes (Tom Conway) is a dapper defense attorney campaigning for the office of district attorney against incumbent DA Gordon. He's running as a reformer, and there is apparently tons to reform, with lots of city officials on the take from the mob.

Barnes has a reputation as a showboat, and early in the film you get a taste of that. While cross examining a witness on the stand who claims - falsely as coached by the mob - that he saw Barnes's client commit the crime, Barnes pretends to get angry and produces a gun like he's going to shoot the witness, just to prove that the witness was a coward and did not just stand there with nerves of steel when Barnes's client allegedly drew a gun. Forget the fact that in reality Barnes would be disbarred for such a stunt, and just appreciate he did get his client acquitted.

Then one night, Barnes and mobster Vic Wright have a confrontation in Wright's office over the evidence Barnes has collected against him. A desperate Wright pulls a gun, there's a struggle, and the gun goes off and kills Wright. Barnes, normally a smart cookie, does a not smart thing and just leaves the scene. But then his girlfriend, who is working as a singer at the club, walks in on the aftermath, picks up the gun, is seen by the dead mobster's brother, and she also does a not smart thing and leaves the scene. She's picked up later and arrested for the crime. And even though Barnes does the right thing at this point and confesses his role, nobody believes him because of his showboat reputation! Complications ensue.

Now there's some stuff I'm not telling you, but just let it suffice there's lots of neat little twists, turns, and touches in this very short but effective little B. As for the direction, it always seemed to be true of Robert Wise that if you gave him a cast of not well-known actors and a small budget, he could produce some real gems. But give him a large budget and large cast and he could be a windy bore. This is the former case.

Note Tony Barrett as one of the reporters in an uncredited role. For some reason the reporters have a "reporter's table" in the courtroom, and at first I thought Barrett was one of the mobsters with his post-war jive talk and mannerisms. He also pops up as Lawrence Tierney's first victim in the classic "Born To Kill" of the following year, also directed by Robert Wise. And what is it with the old trope of criminals thinking it's a good idea to shoot a witness who is getting ready to blow a case wide open? Whatever damage the witness does do, it can't be as bad as being caught red handed committing murder in a courtroom full of witnesses and police officers.