A man is determined to find the real culprit behind the crime for which his father was wrongly executed.
Acting
Burgess Meredith's film debut — raw, theatrical, unforgettable.
Writing
Maxwell Anderson's verse dialogue fighting against studio cuts.
Production
Expressionist shadows on a shoestring RKO budget.
Director
Alfred Santell
Burgess Meredith
Mio Romagna
Margo
Miriamne Esdras
Eduardo Ciannelli
Trock Estrella
Maurice Moscovitch
Esdras
John Carradine
Bartolomio Romagna
Edward Ellis
Judge Gaunt
Paul Guilfoyle
Garth Esdras
Stanley Ridges
Shadow
Mischa Auer
Radical
Willard Robertson
Policeman in the Square
Alec Craig
Hobo
Myron McCormick
Carr
Helen Jerome Eddy
Maria Romagna
Barbara Pepper
Girl
Fernanda Eliscu
Piny
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
Based on the Sacco-Vanzetti case; Anderson wrote it in verse and fought RKO's cuts to every poetic line.
John Carradine appears in flashback as the executed father — 8 years later he'd play Christ in religious films, carrying that martyr energy.
US
