Larry O'Roark is a boxer who's insanely posssesive and jealous of his fiancee, Jo. the sight of her and her employer, Mr. Lambert, at ringside during his big fight distracts Larry and he is knocked out. He then promises never to be jealous again and marries Jo. When she realizes that they're broke she asks Lambert for a job (she had quit on marrying Larry.) One thing leads to another and Larry, enraged with jealousy, end up killing Lambert. He then wanders off in a daze, and Jo takes the rap for the murder. Larry descends from his amnesiac fog just in time to interrupt the announcement of the jury's verdict in Jo's trial. then it's off to the chair for Larry. Or is it?
Acting
Nancy Carroll's martyrdom hits different.
Direction
Neill's tight 66-minute sprint to doom.
Writing
Pre-Code dialogue that'd never pass later.
Director
Roy William Neill
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Pre-Code Hollywood (1930-1934) allowed adultery, crime unpunished, and moral complexity before censorship enforcement.
The amnesia plot device was a common Hays Code workaround—mental illness excused sins that conscious characters couldn't.
US
