The award-winning early TV series "Studio One" brought us this predictable morality play. J.C.Grant is a man who can buy anybody or anything, and when he can't buy someone, he resorts to blackmail. His son David, a budding alcoholic and recent college drop out, finally crosses the line one night when he offers to give a very young Anne Bancroft (Marno) a ride home from her job at a local bar, wrecks his car, and in the process, gets her killed. Facing manslaughter charges, David's only excuse is "I was drunk, I don't remember anything", and he is up against an elderly, head-strong judge with a pristine record. What will J.C. do to bail his son out this time? Most of the characters in this live-performance drama are pretty irritating, and like many Studio One broadcasts, the set and camera work create a somewhat claustrophobic feeling. With the exception of Stanley Ridges (J.C. Grant), the acting is fairly impressive. Ridges trips over several lines and noticeably self-corrects. Franklin Schaffner, a Studio One regular, does a nice tidy job with directing the show.
The story is a predictable morality play and is, at times, very heavy-handed. Although the moral is worth listening too, I was disturbed by the implicit bigotry just below the surface of this film, and positively angry about the way it ended.