An ambitious lawyer uses circumstantial evidence to help convict an innocent man then tries to make amends with his family.An ambitious lawyer uses circumstantial evidence to help convict an innocent man then tries to make amends with his family.An ambitious lawyer uses circumstantial evidence to help convict an innocent man then tries to make amends with his family.
Don Dillaway
- Paul Wallace
- (as Donald Dillaway)
Oscar Apfel
- Managing Editor
- (uncredited)
Bess Flowers
- Telephone Operator
- (uncredited)
Eddie Foster
- Man Betting with Malone
- (uncredited)
Sherry Hall
- Reporter
- (uncredited)
Eddie Kane
- Abe Steiner
- (uncredited)
Pat O'Malley
- Dr. Strong
- (uncredited)
Lee Phelps
- Radio Test Man
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaEdmund Lowe, looking out the window at an outside corridor of the court building, says he is looking at "the Bridge of Sighs," and says that he sent many men across it with "a one-way ticket to the Big House." The reference is to the Doge's Palace in Venice, where trials were held, and which was separated from the cells by such a corridor. In "Childe Harold's Pilgrimage," Byron says, "I stood in Venice, on the Bridge of Sighs,/A palace and a prison on each hand."
- GoofsEdmund Lowe's secretary has been in the job at least ten years, since Lowe was District Attorney, and says she is under 30. (When the film was made, she was 22, and looks it.) She therefore would not have been old enough to be secretary to the District Attorney ten years before.
- Quotes
Val Lorraine: Anyway, it'd ruin my chances to marry the man from Dubuque.
Burton: Grand Rapids.
Featured review
From prosecutor to protector - attorney turns a new leaf
"Attorney for the Defense" is a good film about a district attorney, William J. Burton, who turns from prosecuting accused criminals to defending them. His conversion happens after the real killer confesses to a murder for which an innocent man has already been convicted and executed. It was Burton's prosecution that convinced the jury to give him the electric chair. But Burton's change of heart doesn't mean life will be a bed of roses for him from then on.
Burton's past acquaintances with a two-timing gal, Val Lorraine, and his new career and dedication to helping Mrs. Wallace and her son Paul, will lead to problems in the future. His devoted secretary and legal assistant, Ruth Barry, is his last hope when Burton himself stands trial for murder.
There are a couple of good twists in this Columbia Pictures mystery drama. The production quality isn't very good - Columbia was a second tier studio at the time and wasn't able to as quickly adopt the changes and innovations that the major studios of the day made. The screenplay is just fair, but the plot is a good one.
And this is a good film in which to see an actor who isn't much remembered in the 21st century like many of the movie icons of the mid-20th century. Edmund Lowe finished his last decade in TV series in the 1950s, but had a career with more than 100 films. Many of those were in leading roles during the silent film era. He transitioned well with sound, but was already 40 years old in 1930. He still got lead roles, mostly in mysteries with some comedies and dramas through the mid-1930s. But after that, when the new young stars begam making names for themselves, Lowe's roles were most often supporting. He made movies for different studios, including some B studios by the end of his film career.
Constance Cummings is very good as Ruth Barry. Nat Pendleton is the most recognizable of the supporting cast. Most of the rest of the cast wouldn't be recognized except by die-hard movie buffs and aficionados.
Here's a favorite line from this film.
Val Lorraine (played by Evelyn Brent), "Anyway, it'd ruin my chances to marry the man from Dubuque." William Burton, "Grand Rapids."
Burton's past acquaintances with a two-timing gal, Val Lorraine, and his new career and dedication to helping Mrs. Wallace and her son Paul, will lead to problems in the future. His devoted secretary and legal assistant, Ruth Barry, is his last hope when Burton himself stands trial for murder.
There are a couple of good twists in this Columbia Pictures mystery drama. The production quality isn't very good - Columbia was a second tier studio at the time and wasn't able to as quickly adopt the changes and innovations that the major studios of the day made. The screenplay is just fair, but the plot is a good one.
And this is a good film in which to see an actor who isn't much remembered in the 21st century like many of the movie icons of the mid-20th century. Edmund Lowe finished his last decade in TV series in the 1950s, but had a career with more than 100 films. Many of those were in leading roles during the silent film era. He transitioned well with sound, but was already 40 years old in 1930. He still got lead roles, mostly in mysteries with some comedies and dramas through the mid-1930s. But after that, when the new young stars begam making names for themselves, Lowe's roles were most often supporting. He made movies for different studios, including some B studios by the end of his film career.
Constance Cummings is very good as Ruth Barry. Nat Pendleton is the most recognizable of the supporting cast. Most of the rest of the cast wouldn't be recognized except by die-hard movie buffs and aficionados.
Here's a favorite line from this film.
Val Lorraine (played by Evelyn Brent), "Anyway, it'd ruin my chances to marry the man from Dubuque." William Burton, "Grand Rapids."
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- SimonJack
- Oct 11, 2021
Details
- Runtime1 hour 10 minutes
- Color
- Aspect ratio
- 1.37 : 1
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Top Gap
By what name was Attorney for the Defense (1932) officially released in Canada in English?
Answer