Like the Broadway musical "Follies", this generically titled social drama has several meanings. It's a physical court trial for Mexican teen Rafael Campos and an emotional and moral trial for his attorney Glenn Ford who discovers that his case is being used as propaganda to boost communist subversive activities. Communist manipulator Arthur Kennedy wants to see Campos hung for the alleged murder and attempted rape of a 15 year old white girl, simply to stir up a nasty race war. Along the way, novice court attorney Ford learns a huge lesson on legal ethics and learns how to stand up to a political and legal machine much more powerful than him.
Superb in every way, just brilliantly written and directed social drama is mesmerizing from the start to the end, featuring superb performances by everybody involved. Kennedy is one of the great screen villains of all-time in his part here and deservedly was nominated for an Academy Award. Ford has the difficult task of making his attorney character not to unbelievably goody goody, giving several flaws to the part, especially through his fear of standing up to obvious evil. I initially had misgivings about Dorothy McGuire's performance as his assistant, finding her to be too gleeful in scenes where she should have been more serious over the legal proceedings facing her boss. She reveals more about herself as the film goes along, ultimately delivering the goods.
Understated yet commanding, Juano Hernandez gets a key moment to shine in the film's conclusion as he deals with sudden outbursts during the conclusion of the trial. John Hodiak is also terrific as the prosecuting attorneywho is shown to have a conscience in spite of his position.
The film is peppered with familiar character actors in bit parts, including Frank Ferguson, Frank Katie and Percy Helton. Special praise goes to Campos and on-screen mother Katy Jurado who fortunately get to avoid stereotypical Mexican traits. The camaraderie between Campos and Ford (reunited from "The Blackboard Jungle") is strong and it's obvious that campuses character will come out of this ordeal a stronger person than he would have had had he not gone through this horrendous experience. Strongly directed by Mark Robson, this is a film that definitely stands the test of time, featuring elements that over 60 years later are still prevalent in society.
Superb in every way, just brilliantly written and directed social drama is mesmerizing from the start to the end, featuring superb performances by everybody involved. Kennedy is one of the great screen villains of all-time in his part here and deservedly was nominated for an Academy Award. Ford has the difficult task of making his attorney character not to unbelievably goody goody, giving several flaws to the part, especially through his fear of standing up to obvious evil. I initially had misgivings about Dorothy McGuire's performance as his assistant, finding her to be too gleeful in scenes where she should have been more serious over the legal proceedings facing her boss. She reveals more about herself as the film goes along, ultimately delivering the goods.
Understated yet commanding, Juano Hernandez gets a key moment to shine in the film's conclusion as he deals with sudden outbursts during the conclusion of the trial. John Hodiak is also terrific as the prosecuting attorneywho is shown to have a conscience in spite of his position.
The film is peppered with familiar character actors in bit parts, including Frank Ferguson, Frank Katie and Percy Helton. Special praise goes to Campos and on-screen mother Katy Jurado who fortunately get to avoid stereotypical Mexican traits. The camaraderie between Campos and Ford (reunited from "The Blackboard Jungle") is strong and it's obvious that campuses character will come out of this ordeal a stronger person than he would have had had he not gone through this horrendous experience. Strongly directed by Mark Robson, this is a film that definitely stands the test of time, featuring elements that over 60 years later are still prevalent in society.