A Mexican boy accused of rape and murder becomes a pawn for Communists and red-baiters. A courtroom drama set in 1947 and underlying post-WW2 acute problems facing the USA such as stormy race relations and the growing threat of local communism.
Acting
Arthur Kennedy's sweaty, magnetic villainy steals every frame.
Writing
Preacher-writer Dalton Trumbo's rage barely concealed under studio polish.
Production
LA standing in for everywhere — geography as moral blur.
Director
Mark Robson
Glenn Ford
David Blake
Dorothy McGuire
Abbe Nyle
Arthur Kennedy
Barney Castle
John Hodiak
District Attorney John J. Armstrong
Katy Jurado
Consuela Chavez
Rafael Campos
Angel Chavez
Juano Hernández
Judge Theodore Motley
Robert Middleton
A.A. "Fats" Sanders
John Hoyt
Ralph Castillo
Paul Guilfoyle
Cap Grant
Elisha Cook Jr.
Finn
Whit Bissell
Sam Wiltse
Richard Gaines
Dr. Johannes Schacter
Barry Kelley
Jim Brackett
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Released during the Army-McCarthy hearings — audiences literally watched witch hunts on TV, then in theaters.
Blacklisted writer Dalton Trumbo used front Philip Yordan; Kennedy's character name 'Castle' = Trumbo's sly dig at HUAC's Roy Cohn.
US
