The People Against O'Hara (1951)

Director:

John Sturges

Writers:

Eleazar Lipsky (novel)
John Monks Jr. (writer)

Release Date:

1 September 1951 (USA)

Genre:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

Plot:

James Curtayne has retired from law but he returns to defend John O'Hara on a murder charge. Curtayne's...

Plot Keywords:

Alcoholism | Suitcase | Father Daughter Relationship | Witness | Murder Trial

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Spencer Tracy	...	James P. Curtayne
Pat O'Brien	...	Det. Vincent Ricks
Diana Lynn	...	Virginia 'Ginny' Curtayne
John Hodiak	...	District Attorney Louis Barra
Eduardo Ciannelli	...	Sol 'Knuckles' Lanzetta
James Arness	...	John Fordman 'Johnny' O'Hara
Yvette Duguay	...	Mrs. Katrina Lanzetta
Jay C. Flippen	...	Sven Norson
William Campbell	...	Frank Korvac
Richard Anderson	...	Jeff Chapman
Henry O'Neill	...	Judge Keating
Arthur Shields	...	Mr. O'Hara
Louise Lorimer	...	Mrs. Peg O'Hara
Ann Doran	...	Betty Clark, Policewoman
Emile Meyer	...	Captain Tom Mulvaney

Runtime:

102 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Sound System)

Certification:

Finland:K-16 | Sweden:15

Company:

Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)

Trivia:

Although almost of the film takes place in New York City, there is less than 5 minutes of footage filmed on location in the City of New York.

An updated "long black veil".

but is it a good pattern?I have my doubts.The -of course alcoholic-retired lawyer who redeems his name and his soul by saving an innocent will be the center character of so many courtroom movies that they it's impossible to count them all.Anyway,in "les inconnus dans la maison" ,a French movie of 1941,Raimu had a similar part with desperate case,daughter et al:this Henry Decoin movie was a detective story,from a good George Simenon book.John Sturges's film would rather fall into the film noir category,complete with gangsters , bribes and false evidences .But his treatment verges on faux melodrama (the sobbing parents,the phone call when Tracy asks his daughter's squeeze to marry her,and of course the "moving" finale).the plot is never exciting,being muddled,complicated and mushy (see Johnny's attitude towards his girlfriend:it's worthy of the old folk song "the long black veil" when it lays claim to realism!The judge said "son,what's your alibi/if you were somewhere else/then you won't have to die;we really feel like screaming these lines to the fair knight Johnny)

No suspense either.Maybe if we had any doubts about Johnny's innocence ,we could get some chills.The actor's performance is listless -one does not believe his risks his neck-and frankly,Spencer Tracy's is not that much mind-boggling either.