CALL NORTHSIDE 777 is a fascinating semi-documentary filmed in realistic style by Henry Hathaway and featuring a fine central performance by JAMES STEWART, as a newspaper reporter anxious to prove that an innocent man is still serving time for a crime he never committed.
Others in the cast do their standard good work, including RICHARD CONTE as the wrongly convicted man, LEE J. COBB as a newspaper editor and E.G. MARSHALL. But most of the supporting players are no-names who give an authentic feel to all the minor roles, as does the fact that the film uses actual Chicago locations which gives the whole story an added flavor of realism.
Although the ending should come as no surprise to anyone aware that justice will be done, getting the solution to an eleven-year old murder is what counts here. The manner of police detection may have changed considerably since the late '40s, but the film is a timeless example of corruption exposed and a man's brave efforts to exonerate an innocent man. Well worth watching.
Others in the cast do their standard good work, including RICHARD CONTE as the wrongly convicted man, LEE J. COBB as a newspaper editor and E.G. MARSHALL. But most of the supporting players are no-names who give an authentic feel to all the minor roles, as does the fact that the film uses actual Chicago locations which gives the whole story an added flavor of realism.
Although the ending should come as no surprise to anyone aware that justice will be done, getting the solution to an eleven-year old murder is what counts here. The manner of police detection may have changed considerably since the late '40s, but the film is a timeless example of corruption exposed and a man's brave efforts to exonerate an innocent man. Well worth watching.