Criminal Lawyer (1937)
1h 12m
Running Time
January 29, 1937Release Date
Criminal Lawyer (1937)
1h 12m
Running Time
January 29, 1937Release Date
Plot.
Barry Brandon, a criminal lawyer, visits the night club of Denny Larkin, his primary client, with Betty Walker, a spoiled society girl. The police raid the club and Brandon pleads that the whole group is guilty, just to get even with Larkin for a rebuke. On the same night in court, Madge Carter is on trial for disorderly conduct, and Brandon volunteers to defend her, and proves the case against her if a frame-up. Finding that she is penniless, Brandon hires her as his secretary, and falls in love with her. Brandon is appointed district attorney and has ambitions of becoming the state governor. Having dinner at Betty's home, she maneuvers him, while he is drunk, into marrying her. Later, Madge is a witness when Larkin shoots down a fellow gangster. By threatening Brandon's life, he forces her to commit perjury at his trial, and say he fired in self-defense. Brandon, the prosecuting attorney (who has had his marriage to Betty annulled) knows she is lying but doesn't know why.
Where to Watch.
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Cast & Crew.
Lee Tracy
Barry Brandon
Margot Grahame
Madge Carter
Betty Lawford
Betty Walker
Eduardo Ciannelli
Tony Bandini
Erik Rhodes
Gene Larkin
Frank M. Thomas
William Walker
Christy Cabanne
Director
Wilfred Lucas
Brandon's Assistant
Edward Killy
Director
G.V. Atwater
Writer
William Stack
District Attorney Hopkins
Gladys Atwater
Writer
Thomas Lennon
Writer
Charles Lane
Attorney (uncredited)
Louis Stevens
Writer
Aileen Pringle
Mrs. Manning (uncredited)
David Abel
Cinematographer
Francis McDonald
Jack 'Fingy' Doremus (uncredited)
Lita Chevret
Nora James (uncredited)
Theodore von Eltz
Larkin's Attorney (uncredited)
Cyril Ring
Extra at Larkin's Nightclub (uncredited)
Edward Van Sloan
Bit (uncredited)
William Worthington
Party Guest (uncredited)
Sidney Bracey
Wilson - Walker's Butler (uncredited)
Media.
Details.
Wiki.
Criminal Lawyer is a 1937 American drama film directed by Christy Cabanne from a screenplay by G. V. Atwater and Thomas Lennon, based on a story by Louis Stevens. The film stars Lee Tracy, Margot Grahame and Eduardo Ciannelli. RKO produced the film and premiered it on January 26, 1937, in New York City, with a national release a few days later on January 29. It was the second time Stevens' story had been used for a film, the first being 1932's State's Attorney, starring John Barrymore and Helen Twelvetrees, directed by George Archainbaud, and also produced and released by RKO.