Featured Audience Ratings

• Bob S

  
  Filmed on location in my current hometown - Stamford CT - yay! Good buildup about political shenanigans related to the prosecution of a mysterious murder in small town America is ultimately spoiled by a by third act courtroom scene where all is miraculously revealed. A compelling… More
  Filmed on location in my current hometown - Stamford CT - yay! Good buildup about political shenanigans related to the prosecution of a mysterious murder in small town America is ultimately spoiled by a by third act courtroom scene where all is miraculously revealed. A compelling mix of documentary and noir styles in this early effort by Elia Kazan.

• AJ V

  
  A great cast and story, it's really dramatic and exciting, I loved it.

• Randy T

  
  I'm teetering between 3 and 3 1/2 stars. I liked the essence more than I liked the premise of this politically motivated courtroom drama. Dana Andrews and Lee J Cobb are superb, as always, but the narration and structure is a little too heavy-handed for my taste.

• xGary X

  
  An honest district attourney is pressured into convicting a man accused of the murder of a priest, but when he examines the evidence, he has second thoughts as to the man's guilt. Rather similar to 12 Angry Men, which was released 10 years later and also featured Lee J. Cobb and… More
  An honest district attourney is pressured into convicting a man accused of the murder of a priest, but when he examines the evidence, he has second thoughts as to the man's guilt. Rather similar to 12 Angry Men, which was released 10 years later and also featured Lee J. Cobb and Ed Begley, this is an intelligent courtroom drama based on a real case from the same director as Brando's On The Waterfront and Cat On A Hot Tin Roof. It shows not only the investigation of the evidence, but also the pressures behind the scenes from self-serving politicians, the press and a public eager for a quick conviction. Dana Andrews is solid as the crusading DA, but it is Cobb's worldly wise chief of police and Arthur Kennedy as the suspect railroaded into a false confession that are the stand-out performances. The true identity of the murderer is only hinted at, and he suffers a rather contrived timely come-uppance no doubt to appease the "crime doesn't pay" censorship laws, but otherwise a fine noir-style examination of the American justice system.

• Michael G

  
  I was bored to tears. A man's conscience vs. a society's bloodlust to see someone... ANYONE hang for a murder. Political bureaucracy in a small town.