An Act of Murder (1948)

User Rating:

7.3/10   

Director:

Michael Gordon

Writers:

Michael Blankfort (screenplay)
Ernst Lothar (novel)
(more)

Release Date:

18 December 1948 (Sweden)

Genre:

Crime | Drama

Plot:

A hard-line judge is tempted toward mercy-killing by his wife's terminal cancer.

Plot Keywords:

Mercy Killing | Cancer | Judge | Brain | Morphine

Cast

Fredric March	...	Judge Calvin Cooke
Edmond O'Brien	...	David Douglas
Florence Eldridge	...	Catherine Cooke
Geraldine Brooks	...	Ellie Cooke
Stanley Ridges	...	Doctor Walter Morrison
John McIntire	...	Judge Ogden
Frederic Tozere	...	Charles Dayton
Will Wright	...	Judge Jim Wilder
Virginia Brissac	...	Mrs. Russell
Francis McDonald	...	Mr. Russell
Mary Servoss	...	Julia
Don Beddoe	...	Pearson
Clarence Muse	...	Mr. Pope
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Charles Bedell	...	Barker (uncredited)
Maurice Brierre	...	Pedestrian (uncredited)
Paul E. Burns	...	Old Man (uncredited)
Pat Combs	...	Young Man (uncredited)
Bert Conway	...	Novak (uncredited)
Russ Conway	...	Wilson (uncredited)
Frank Darien	...	Old Man (uncredited)
Walter DeCardo	...	Bit (uncredited)
Richard Dumas	...	Young Boy (uncredited)
Edward Earle	...	Dr. Standish (uncredited)
Ella Ethridge	...	Pedestrian (uncredited)
Olga Fabian	...	Mrs. Novak (uncredited)
William Fawcett	...	Old Man (uncredited)
Eddie Fetherston	...	Barker (uncredited)
Ethyl May Halls	...	Young Girl (uncredited)
Joy Hallward	...	Nurse (uncredited)
George Hamilton	...	Court Attendant (uncredited)
Harry Harvey	...	Dr. Boyd (uncredited)
William Hawley	...	Court Stenographer (uncredited)
Harry Hayden	...	Mr. Hart (uncredited)
Taylor Holmes	...	(uncredited)
Thomas E. Jackson	...	Bailiff (uncredited)
Bob Jellison	...	Stout Man (uncredited)
Ann Lawrence	...	Bit (uncredited)
Walter Lawrence	...	Barker (uncredited)
David Leonard	...	Dr. Levi (uncredited)
Frank McFarland	...	Attorney (uncredited)
Don McGill	...	Young Attorney (uncredited)
Eda Reiss Merin	...	Woman in Drug Store (uncredited)
Howard M. Mitchell	...	Cop (uncredited)
Eddie Parker	...	Cop (uncredited)
Ralph Peters	...	Chef (uncredited)
Allan Ray	...	George Johnson (uncredited)
Renie Riano	...	Mrs. McGuinness (uncredited)
Felice Richmond	...	Bit (uncredited)
Beatrice Roberts	...	Miss Coble (uncredited)
Jack Rollens	...	Bit (uncredited)
George Ryland	...	Bit (uncredited)
Brook Shayne	...	Young Girl (uncredited)
Carl Sklover	...	Bit (uncredited)
Cy Stevens	...	Bit (uncredited)
Ray Teal	...	Dr. McDermott (uncredited)
Harry Tyler	...	Hotel Clerk (uncredited)
Mack Williams	...	Court Clerk (uncredited)

Directed by
Michael Gordon

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Michael Blankfort		screenplay
Ernst Lothar		novel "The Mills of God"
Robert Thoeren		screenplay

Produced by
Jerry Bresler	....	producer

Original Music by
Daniele Amfitheatrof

Cinematography by
Hal Mohr		(director of photography)

Film Editing by
Ralph Dawson

Art Direction by
Robert F. Boyle
Bernard Herzbrun

Set Decoration by
John P. Austin		(as John Austin)
Russell A. Gausman

Costume Design by
Yvonne Wood

Makeup Department
Carmen Dirigo	....	hair stylist
Bud Westmore	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Lew Leary	....	production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
John Sherwood	....	assistant director

Sound Department
Jack A. Bolger Jr.	....	sound
Leslie I. Carey	....	sound

Camera and Electrical Department
Bert Anderson	....	still photographer (uncredited)
Harry Davis	....	camera operator (uncredited)
B. Gulliver	....	grip (uncredited)

Music Department
David Tamkin	....	orchestrator (uncredited)

Other crew
Milly Vallie	....	script supervisor
Laurence M. Weinberg	....	legal technical advisor

Production Companies

• Universal International Pictures (UI)

Distributors

• Universal Pictures (1948) (USA) (theatrical)

Also Known As:

Live Today for Tomorrow
The Judge's Wife (USA) (working title)

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Certification:

USA:Approved (PCA #13099) | Finland:S

Company:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Quotes:

Doctor Walter Morrison: What is incurable today is curable next Wednesday.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Movies Are Adventure (1948)

Not for hypochondriacs!

This film's relentless plotline marches straight-ahead forward as you squirm, fascinated, in your chair. The story is the familiar one about the onset of terminal illness within a solid American family of the 1940s. Never mind that it delves into MGM-style sermonizing; the great real-life husband/wife team of Fredric March and Florence Eldridge portray the couple whose once-comfortable lives are now being separated by an unstoppable and fast-advancing disease. The helpless husband, the uncomplaining wife, and their final attempt to recapture happier days with a doomed weekend outing is the stuff of deep film drama indeed. The sense of onrushing darkness is tangible through the film-noir camera shadings of Hal Mohr (Captain Blood, Phantom of the Opera [1943], The Climax), and Daniele Amfitheatrof's rich musical score. "An Act of Murder" makes a profound statement on the value, and the fragility, of life.