MARIO GAUCI To begin with, I had first attempted to watch this while in Hollywood in 2005-6 but had had to abort the late-night TCM screening on account of poor TV reception at my place of residence! The Warner Bros. studio made a reputation for themselves in the 1930s for socially-conscious movies – from glorified gangster thrillers (beginning with LITTLE CAESAR {1931}) to tabloid journalism exposes (for instance, FIVE STAR FINAL {1931}) and prison reform dramas (most notably, I AM A FUGITIVE FROM A CHAIN GANG {1932}). I expressly mentioned these three classic titles because all were made by the same director as the film under review; that said, he would largely eschew this vein once he switched to MGM towards the end of the decade! It deals with a miscarriage of justice inspired by a real-life case that was later also treated in the 1988 TV-movie THE MURDER OF MARY PHAGAN (starring Jack Lemmon), which I foolishly never watched despite once owning a copy of! Anyway, what we have here is a man convicted of murder solely on the strength of circumstantial evidence: he just happens to be a Northerner employed in the South, and the events kick off on the former Confederacy's Memorial Day – when the sentiments for the old life and resentment towards the 'enemy' are most apt to be rekindled! To make matters worse for the hero (a stiff Edward Norris), the opportunistic D.A. (an occasionally overripe Claude Rains) prosecuting him sees this trial – which creates nationwide interest and concern, so much so that a crack Northern lawyer (Otto Kruger) is sent out to act for the defense – as his stepping-stone for the Governor's seat! While well enough regarded (despite receiving no Oscar recognition at the time) by mainstream critics – Leslie Halliwell awards this a, for him, very respectable *** and Leonard Maltin even gives it full marks – the film seems pretty much neglected at this juncture (being made available digitally only by way of a manufactured-on-demand DVD-R as part of the "Warner Archives" label): the reasons for this, to my mind, are two. The fact that it is undercast (nominal star Rains was hardly a big box-office draw, already middle-aged when this emerged, and playing a nasty character into the bargain!) – whether it was done to achieve greater realism or to counter the intrinsic hysteria at its core is debatable (still, a debuting Allyn Joslyn is effective as an unscrupulous reporter, a dark-haired Lana Turner landed her first important role here as the murder victim and Elisha Cook Jr. appears as the latter's unlikely beau) – and also because it came hot on the heels of another superb 'mob justice'-themed effort, namely Fritz Lang's FURY (1936; ironically, an MGM picture); apparently, Lang was even approached to helm this one but declined! Though hardly complimentary to its people, the Southern atmosphere is vividly captured throughout – and the film as a whole is generously filled with splendid sequences, reaching a nice pitch of frenzy when the convicted tutor has his sentence converted to one of life imprisonment by the elderly and sympathetic outgoing Governor...but the girl's brothers determine to exact their own kind of justice regardless. This is followed by a coda in which the accused party's wife gives Rains (already with his eye on the Senate!) and Joslyn a piece of her mind, a scene which is very similar in intent and execution to the memorable tirade concluding the afore-mentioned FIVE STAR FINAL.

sdave7596 "They Won't Forget" released in 1937, is a hard-hitting look at prejudice and North versus South politics. A young student in a business school (Lana Turner, in her first role) is killed. Fingers soon point to her school teacher from up North (Edward Norris). Whether or not he is guilty seems not to matter to the residents of this small southern town. Claude Rains has a stellar role here as the prosecutor you love to hate, a man who has high political ambitions and wants to bring a conviction no matter who has to to hang for it. Clearly there is nothing but circumstantial evidence against the teacher, something a lawyer (Otto Kruger) from New York points out. He comes to the southern town to defend the teacher, as the case has received national attention. A sleazy newspaper guy who is in league with the prosecutor makes certain the case stays in the headlines, leading to massive rumors and speculation about the man's guilt. This is not an uplifting movie, and I found myself getting outraged while watching it. But this is what Warner Brothers often did in the 1930's -- while MGM was focused on glitz and glamour, Warner's was down in the streets and bringing us great social commentary films like this one. And I think it is quite daring by 1937 standards. The performances are good ones. Rains has a tough time hiding his British accent, but he fascinates anyway. Norris is adequate as the school teacher, although he never had much of a career. Lana Turner was probably all of 16 or 17 here, and a real beauty, and we can already see glimpses of why she became the star she did.

RanchoTuVu A stunning courtroom drama set in a small southern town about a northerner working as an instructor at a small local business college accused of the murder of a local girl who was one of his students. With racial and religious overtones, and a terrific performance by Claude Rains as a politically motivated prosecutor. The courtroom scenes are some of the best ever seen on film, with excellent editing and drama that reaches a feverish momentum. Knowing the fate that awaits the accused adds even more gravity to the film. Similar to LeRoy's earlier film, I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, both slam southern justice and have unforgettable endings.

NRREX This may well be the most depressing movie ever made. Based on a notorious murder case, the audience is spared nothing. I think it took guts for producer Mervyn Leroy to make this film. Many theaters refused to show it. The role of a lifetime for actor Claude Rains, I was impressed by the performance of the actress who plays the wife of the victim of a trial that never should have been. It takes a strong stomach to sit through until the end. The film did win awards, but the Academy of Arts and Sciences was afraid to touch it. In real life the victim of the miscarriage of justice was exonerated many years later, but the political career of the Governor who tried to commute his sentence was ruined.