Kay Francis is always in some quagmire with a man. In "Scandal Sheet" and "Transgression" she was cheating on her husband. In "Girls About Town" she was an escort who fell in love with a client. In "Guilty Hands" she was romantically involved with a man who was about to marry. In "Ladies' Man" she was the third leg of a love triangle (also with William Powell). In "Raffles" she sought to protect her boyfriend, a thief, from the police. Here in "For the Defense" she was involved in another love triangle with William Powell.
William 'Bill' Foster (William Powell) was the criminals' attorney. He was a dream team all by himself. The D. A. and the police hated him because he was so successful at getting criminals off the hook.
He would take a doozy of a case when his sweetie, Irene (Kay Francis), was involved in an automobile accident with a man she was going to marry, Jack De Foe (Scott Kolk). The two were sneaking around together and hadn't broken the news to Foster yet. Foster loved Irene, but didn't want to marry her, while Irene was tired of being just a girlfriend.
While she was driving with a drunk Jack De Foe, he bumped her arm which caused her to swerve and hit and kill a man. Because the incident was sure to be in the papers, Jack told Irene to run away and that he'd take the wrap for the accident (ala "The Vice Squad," another movie Kay Francis was in). Because he was drunk, he caught a manslaughter charge which he was willing to do time for to keep Irene out of trouble with the law, and more importantly, with Foster.
Irene begged Foster to represent Jack. He was more than a little suspicious of her insistence, but he trusted her. Even though he trusted her he let her know that if it comes out that she'd been running around with Jack, he was done with her full stop.
This short movie was quite good. It was part courtroom drama, which I love, and part romance. Fortunately, the courtroom drama aspects of the movie were more prominent that the romantic parts.
Free on YouTube.
William 'Bill' Foster (William Powell) was the criminals' attorney. He was a dream team all by himself. The D. A. and the police hated him because he was so successful at getting criminals off the hook.
He would take a doozy of a case when his sweetie, Irene (Kay Francis), was involved in an automobile accident with a man she was going to marry, Jack De Foe (Scott Kolk). The two were sneaking around together and hadn't broken the news to Foster yet. Foster loved Irene, but didn't want to marry her, while Irene was tired of being just a girlfriend.
While she was driving with a drunk Jack De Foe, he bumped her arm which caused her to swerve and hit and kill a man. Because the incident was sure to be in the papers, Jack told Irene to run away and that he'd take the wrap for the accident (ala "The Vice Squad," another movie Kay Francis was in). Because he was drunk, he caught a manslaughter charge which he was willing to do time for to keep Irene out of trouble with the law, and more importantly, with Foster.
Irene begged Foster to represent Jack. He was more than a little suspicious of her insistence, but he trusted her. Even though he trusted her he let her know that if it comes out that she'd been running around with Jack, he was done with her full stop.
This short movie was quite good. It was part courtroom drama, which I love, and part romance. Fortunately, the courtroom drama aspects of the movie were more prominent that the romantic parts.
Free on YouTube.