Actually, it's the two old ladies in this film who walk off with it: Helen Lowell and Clara Blandick, spinster sisters who take in Frances Drake, girlfriend of convicted murderer Clark Williams whom the local law (manipulator by senator Henry Hull) knows is innocent and for some reason are protecting the actual killers. Edward Ellis, Williams' partner in a traveling roller skating rink, also knows the truth and disappears. Lowell and Blandick stand up to the judgmental old biddies of the town but other towns folk aren't so easily two-tiered, and for a while it seems as if Williams might end up being lynched like Spencer Tracy in the following year's "Fury".
In the meantime, Drake falls for Gene Raymond, Williams' attorney who has the strength to stand up to the townspeople, basically dumping his sassy June Clayworth for the sweet Drake. What could have been an interesting social drama turns out to be dull and often tactless with its constant stereotypical dialogue for the many black characters who appear in minor roles, starting with a young teenager in the very first scene. It's also a bit convoluted in its structure, and that is truly emphasized by the High praise given for Lowell and Blandick whom of course has entered film immortality as Auntie Em in "The Wizard of Oz".
In the meantime, Drake falls for Gene Raymond, Williams' attorney who has the strength to stand up to the townspeople, basically dumping his sassy June Clayworth for the sweet Drake. What could have been an interesting social drama turns out to be dull and often tactless with its constant stereotypical dialogue for the many black characters who appear in minor roles, starting with a young teenager in the very first scene. It's also a bit convoluted in its structure, and that is truly emphasized by the High praise given for Lowell and Blandick whom of course has entered film immortality as Auntie Em in "The Wizard of Oz".