the audience applauded

Blistering performances.

Like the great film, it's made with a great deal of visible affection both in front of and behind the camera.

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

"Criminal Court" proves that just because a film is a B-movie (with a small budget and brief running time) that is can STILL be a heck of a good film. Due to really good writing and acting, it works and is worth your time.The film begins with Steve Barnes running for District Attorney (Tom Conway) on a true platform to clean up the government. He and a group of his colleagues have done a lot to investigate graft--and they've finally got the evidence to make heads roll. However, a local mobster (Robert Armstrong) is not about to let his organization be brought down without a fight. And, during a confrontation between the two men, the hood draws a gun Steve and tries to kill him. Barnes is able to get the gun away from him and when it falls, it goes off--killing the gangster! This is a bit difficult to believe, I know but stick with the film. Where it all goes next kept surprising me. Time and again, little twists came that took the film in directions I hadn't anticipated--which is rare, as B-movies are often very predictable. I would say more but just don't to spoil the film.Other reviews have mentioned this, but Conway was George Sanders' brother. Both were incredibly erudite and spoke with a glorious accent--and brought a nice sophistication to even the simplest of roles. Exciting and worth your time--this is yet another one of Conway's B performances that elevated the material to a slightly better level.

***SPOILERS*** Interesting but a bit nutty courtroom drama with big time defense attorney Steve Barnes, Tom Conway, trying to get his client as well as girlfriend night club singer Georgia "On his Mind" Gale, Martha O'Briscoll, off on a murder rap that he in fact committed. Well not exactly murder but self-defense. That's when Georgia's mobbed up boss Club Circle owner Vic Wright, Robert Armstrong, got into a scuffle with Barnes and after he dropped his gun, that he was going to shoot Barnes with, it went off accidentally hitting and killing him!What started all this was Barnes planning to release to the press photos and motion picture film of Wright's brainless kid brother Frankie,Steve Brodie, paying off judges district attorneys and politicians to look the other way in not having him indited for, among other things, serving liquor to minors in his club as well as not having a genuine, his is faked, liquor license to boot! It was Georgia's misfortune to have dropped into her boss Vic Wright's office just as her lover Barnes checked out and be spotted, with smoking gun in hand, by kid brother Frankie! Barnes! Now determined to prove Georgia innocent Barnes tries to prove that he not Georgia was the one who gunned down Vic Wright! It never seemed to occur to Barnes that if he succeeded in getting Georgia off while getting himself convicted he may well up not only disbarred but put behind bars for life or even executed from killing Vic Wright! That's if his self-defense strategy in shooting Wright backfires and is not believed by the jury!**SPOILERS*** In a typical feel good Hollywood style ending everything turns out to be all right for both Bearnes and Georgia in the end. It's Bernes private secretary Joan Mason, June Claynorth, who in fact was secretly working for Vic Wright who was an eye witness to his death by being in the other room and watching the whole scene through a peephole. It's Joan who finally, with a little persuasion on Barnes' part, came through for him in the film's final and almost laughable sequence. But that's after a number of the late Vic Wright's goons were apprehend by the police right inside the courtroom spectator galley as they were about to blast Joan to keep her from talking!

Over the years I have enjoyed all the films that Tom Conway has performed in, such as the "Falcon" Series, "Voodoo Woman",'57 and many other "B" films. Also the fact that he was the brother of famous actor, George Sanders. In this film Conway plays Steve Barnes, who is a lawyer and also running for political office and gets involved with Robert Armstrong (Vic Wright),"Mighty Joe Young",'49, who is the owner of CLUB CIRCLE and has gangster connections. Steve's girlfriend, Martha O'Driscoll,(Georgia Gale),"Carnegie Hall",'47 gets involved with a murder and Steve comes to her aid. The court room proceedings will make you laugh and you can clearly see that this is a very CLASSIC B FILM from the 1940's but very enjoyable and entertaining!

Director Robert Wise, near the beginning of his career, made a decent lawyer film with a good ending. There's not much suspense, and the plot device owes much to the play, "Hat, Coat and Glove"; and it is no surprise that Tom Conway was in a film re-make of that play when it was made into a movie a second time. While this might not be great noir, it is certainly a "B movie" that is easy to watch.