Plot
In a California resort community, the wealthy Michael Reston is charged with the murder of a man he claimed attacked his wife, Charleen.
Reston hires a high-priced lawyer, James Gordon Blane, a man known to do anything it takes to win a case. Blane makes few friends because the victim was a popular figure in the community while the Restons are not popular with anyone. But his skillful cross-examination of the local sheriff, Nick Hoak, results in Reston being found not guilty.
Hoak decides to get even. He fabricates evidence that Blane bribed a woman on the jury by pressuring her to perjure herself. Now it is Blane who goes on trial, with only his estranged wife, Diane, and his friend, Billy, coming to his aid. While defending himself, Blane begins to feel remorse over having won acquittals for so many guilty clients.
Blane ultimately is found not guilty due to the obvious possibility that the sheriff framed him in retaliation for his successful defense of Reston. The juror, Carol Morrow, who only lied about the bribery because she was romantically involved with the sheriff, becomes distraught when he rejects her out of fear his manipulation will be discovered. Enraged by the acquittal, the sheriff watches Blane going down the Court-House steps. Standing in the shadows he draws his gun intent on murdering Blane in cold blood. He is stopped when Morrow gets some revenge of her own by shooting him. As she is arrested for her actions, the Blanes reconcile and leave town for good.
Production
Chandler's casting was announced in June 1956.[3] Zugsmith later recalled Chandler "was becoming a bit difficult and he was their (Universal's) second biggest star at the time. I guess one of the reasons was he was their biggest, and then Rock Hudson came along!"[4]
Filming started on August 13, 1956.[5] Shooting took place in Palm Springs.[6]
Reception
The Los Angeles Times wrote that Chandler "does the best acting job of his career" in the picture.[7]
Critical appraisal
Biographer Dana M. Reemes in Directed by Jack Arnold (1988) writes that the production provided “opportunities for considerable directorial creativity…The best example of this is without doubt the film’s prologue, which is very cinematic and utterly without dialogue.”[8]
A sports car convertible speeds along a winding hillside road at night, driven by an attractive blond in a cocktail dress — “an expression of cynical self-satisfaction” on her face. She pulls into the driveway of a ranch-style estate and enters the house through a poolside portal. The exchange with her husband is visible but inaudible. Apparently enraged by her remarks, he arms himself with a handgun and the couple depart in the car. The sequence cuts to a lone young man walking on a dark city street, who has fingernail scratch marks on his face. As he lights a cigarette, a sports car turns onto the street and races towards him. Facing the oncoming vehicle, the man is shot down, collapsing under a lamppost. The car speeds away.[9]
Reemes writes: “It is a gripping scene, relying entirely on careful, intelligent staging and camera work. It is an example of Jack Arnold at his best.”[10]
