Genre - Detective & Law
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51 titles
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyMaureen O'SullivanFormer detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora investigate a murder case, mostly for the fun of it.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeLionel BarrymoreStarsLionel BarrymoreKay FrancisMadge EvansA district attorney commits the perfect murder when he kills his daughter's womanizing fiancé and then tries framing the fiancé's lover.
- DirectorJ. Walter RubenStarsRicardo CortezKaren MorleyAnita LouiseJenny Wren is found dead after threatening to blackmail some prominent men, and it's up to a detective to find out what happened to Jenny.
- DirectorJohn CromwellStarsWilliam PowellKay FrancisScott KolkWilliam Powell plays William Foster, a slick attorney who stays within the law, but specializes in representing crooks and shady characters. He's adept at keeping them out of jail, winning acquittals, and having decisions reversed, thus springing criminals out of prison. He is romantically involved with dancer Irene Manners (Kay Francis), who is two-timing him, although she wants to marry him. She kills a man driving while out with her other man, Jack Defoe (Scott Kolk), who takes the blame. Unfortunately, a ring Foster had just given Irene is found at the crime scene. Foster ends up defending Jack, but when the ring is found, he thinks he is protecting Irene, so pleads guilty to jury tampering, which he had done for the first time to save Irene. After his plea, the the prosecuting DA confides that Jack would have gotten off...
- DirectorGeorge B. SeitzStarsOtto KrugerUna MerkelBen LyonA brilliant, successful criminal defense attorney's life is turned upside down when he takes on a case of a murdered woman who turns out to be an old flame who left him 10 years ago.
- DirectorLambert HillyerStarsJack HoltJean ArthurNat PendletonThe assistant (Arthur) of a sleazy lawyer (Holt) is determined to end his cheating ways.
- DirectorMichael CurtizStarsWilliam PowellMargaret LindsayRuth DonnellyA down-and-out private eye falls for a woman he has been hired to frame.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsBela LugosiDavid MannersAdrienne AmesMurder during film shoot sparks search for a killer.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsGeorge BrentMargaret LindsayEugene PalletteWhen a Broadway playboy is found dead, it's up to detective Jim Stevens to pick the murderer out of several likely candidates.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsBarbara StanwyckWarren WilliamGlenda FarrellBefore Ruth Vincent, daughter of a state governor, and state attorney general Robert Sheldon can announce their marriage, the governor is accused of bribe-taking. To avoid the appearance of conflict of interest, they decide to keep their marriage secret. The political intrigue becomes more involved, and no one is quite what they seem. Soon Sheldon and Ruth must decide between saving the governor's career and an innocent person's life.
- DirectorWilliam DieterleStarsWilliam PowellJoan BlondellDavid LandauIdealistic attorney Anton Adam makes headlines when he successfully beats high-profile legal eagle Granville Bentley in a murder case. Bentley asks Adam to become a partner in his law firm. But Adam's rising career takes a nosedive when he's framed by John Gilmurry, a prominent New York racketeer, and a sexy actress in a trumped-up breach-of-promise suit. The only constant in Adam's life is the loyalty and unrequited love of his secretary Olga.
- DirectorSam WoodStarsLoretta YoungFranchot ToneLewis StoneAn ambitious barrister and his wife are targeted by blackmailers. In trying to save her husband, the wife becomes involved in a murder case her husband is trying. For his part, the husband's actions make him a suspect in a related murder.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyJames StewartPrivate detective Nick Charles and his wealthy wife Nora are back home at last and hoping for a quiet New Year when there is a murder. The obvious suspect is his wife, Nora's cousin, Selma.
- DirectorWilliam ClemensStarsMargaret LindsayGlenda FarrellWarren HullNovice attorneys Mary and 'Dot' open their own practice, confident that their futures looks bright. But after months of rising debt and falling income, Mary stumbles into the employ of racketeer Frank Gordon. Financial worries behind them, Mary and 'Dot' start representing the dregs of Morgan's society. But will Mary's conscience--not to mention the intervention of her D.A. boyfriend--allow her to continue?
- DirectorMervyn LeRoyStarsClaude RainsGloria DicksonEdward NorrisA politically ambitious district attorney, unscrupulous tabloid journalists, and regional prejudice combine to charge a teacher with the murder of his student.
- DirectorAlexander HallStarsJoan BlondellMelvyn DouglasMary AstorAn investigator for the district attorney and his amateur-sleuth wife compete to solve a murder mystery.
- DirectorBobby ConnollyCrane WilburStarsPatric KnowlesAnn SheridanEric StanleyLance is sent to the hospital to recuperate from a nervous breakdown. At the hospital, Sara is his nurse and she still holds a grudge from the last court case. At the hospital, a wealthy patient has just donated $100,000 worth of radium to be used on his skin problem. But late that night, he is murdered and the radium is stolen. Everyone has a motive except for Sara and Lance as they were locked in his room during the murder. As the bodies pile up, Sara and Lance try to solve the case as Foley is clueless.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsDennis O'KeefeAnn MorrissLewis StoneWhile the county bar association discusses ambulance chasing by unscrupulous attorneys, one of its members, Thomas Z. Brandon, leaves when he learns the location of an accident. After Thomas signs up the sole victim, who is only slightly injured, the city's representative, Simon Kelly, warns him to stop, as does his friend, alcoholic doctor Prescott, but Thomas hopes to get rich with this and other unethical cases. When ambulance chasing soon becomes illegal, Thomas remains a thorn in the side of Mr. Beaumont, head of the local street car company, because he uses trickery to win cases of dubious merit. One night, after Thomas has rushed with two of his shills to the scene of a major accident, he goes over to pretty Dorothy Mason and offers to be her attorney, even though she is not injured and his appearance there could mean disbarment. Thomas doesn't know it, but Dorothy is actually fronting for Calhoun, the street car company's lawyer, who is trying to entrap Thomas. After promising to win Dorothy's case, Thomas arranges for an examination by Prescott, but before that, she secretly is examined by three respected physicians hired by Calhoun. Prescott tells Dorothy she is fine, then gives her a list of things to memorize to fake her injuries. She then tells Calhoun where Prescott will be and he sends Kelly to pretend that he has been fired and wants to work Thomas' racket, then offers him $250- to help. Meanwhile, Dorothy goes to dinner with Thomas and, after consulting with Calhoun, takes him to a roller skating rink where detectives have followed "Floppy" Phil, Thomas's shill, and Mrs. Olson, the widow of a client who actually did die of his injuries. A melee erupts when a photographer takes pictures of the "grieving" widow, after which Thomas and Dorothy return to his office to find Prescott showing files to Kelly. Prescott is remorseful when he realizes his mistake, but Thomas tells him to get out, then has a change of heart and tries to call him back. It is too late, though, because Prescott has been killed by a car. After this, Thomas takes Dorothy to his apartment and reveals that he became an ambulance chaser because Calhoun had used phony witnesses in their first case as adversaries. She then realizes that she loves Thomas, but can't tell him what she has done. When she goes to Calhoun to quit, he threatens her, so she decides to quickly leave town. Thomas stops her, but Phil has found out who she is and tells him. Because he thinks she has been lying about her feelings, though, he says nothing to her. During their lawsuit, Dorothy first perjures herself about the accident, then, under cross examination, reveals that she has just married Thomas and will therefore be unable to testify against him in any misconduct case. After her testimony, Thomas refuses to have anything to do with her until she is arrested for perjury and Phil tells him that she was trying to save him all along. Thomas then goes to Calhoun and Beaumont offering to leave town if they let her go, but they won't until Thomas's persistence in stopping all public transportation through the use of archaic laws, and a trumped up drunk driving charge for Calhoun forces them to relent. Dorothy at first refuses to go with Thomas, but changes her mind when he promises to change and proves it by accepting a parking ticket from a policeman without trying to weasel out of it.
- DirectorRobert B. SinclairStarsHerbert MarshallVirginia BruceMary AstorCynthia is married to Steve and is a selfish hard woman. She decides where they will live, who they will see and even gets rid of Dora, the nanny who raised Steve and is now raising their daughter Ellen. When Steve divorce's Cynthia, even his mother is on Cynthia's side. While pleading a case in Washington, Steve meets a woman named Maris and falls for her. Maris does not know if she is going to the altar or the chopping block, but they marry and come back to his hometown. Unfortunately, Maris is the outsider, and being a small town where Cynthia and Steve grew up, everyone is Cynthia's friend and not Maris. Cynthia will use every occasion, every trick, including Ellen, to try to ruin the life that Steve has with Maris.
- DirectorRay EnrightStarsPat O'BrienJoan BlondellMargaret LindsayMorning Express ace reporter 'Timmy' Blake uses her wiles and charms to get the scoop on rival papers, and keep her editor happy. When the Express gets a tip that a wealthy old man was poisoned and 'Timmy' spots the young widow in a nightclub only a day later, she descends on the town where the death took place to dig out the facts. When her reporting results in the arrest of the young widow, 'Timmy' continues to dig, since she isn't quite convinced that the facts she reported cover all the angles.
- DirectorF. Richard JonesStarsRonald ColmanClaud AllisterLawrence GrantA bored WWI veteran helps out a young woman whose uncle is being held hostage by embezzlers.
- DirectorJames P. HoganStarsRay MillandGuy StandingHeather AngelCaptain Drummond becomes a prisoner when he intends to protect a beautiful heiress of an espionage organization.
- DirectorJohn BrahmStarsMaureen O'SullivanHenry FondaRalph BellamyTwo innocent men are wrongly convicted of murder and sentenced to death. The fiancée of one of them convinces a police detective of their innocence, and together they try to find the real killer before the men's execution date.
- DirectorWilliam K. HowardStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyUna MerkelThe neglected wife of a high profile attorney dallies with a unscrupulous womanizer and finds herself involved in blackmail and murder.
- DirectorStephen RobertsStarsWilliam PowellGinger RogersPaul KellyWhen a dancer disappears from a theater, her former lover asks lawyer Clay Dalzell to investigate, leading him on a trail of murder and deception.
- DirectorRaoul WalshStarsCary GrantJoan BennettWalter PidgeonSassy manicurist Eve Fallon is recruited as an even more brassy reporter and she helps police detective boyfriend Danny Barr break a jewel theft ring and solve the murder of a baby.
- DirectorStephen RobertsStarsWilliam PowellJean ArthurJames GleasonA wealthy mystery writer uses her doctor ex-husband's non-payment of alimony to coerce him into a reconciliation.
- DirectorGeorge FitzmauriceStarsMelvyn DouglasVirginia BruceWarren WilliamA woman and a man vying for a woman's affection: the usual love trio? Not quite so since the belle in question is Lorraine de Grissac, a very wealthy and alluring society woman, while one of the two rivals is none other than Arsène Lupin, the notorious jewel thief everybody thought dead, now living under the assumed name of René Farrand. As for the other suitor he is an American, a former F.B.I. sleuth turned private eye by the name of Steve Emerson. Steve not only suspects Farrand of being Lupin but when someone attempts to steal a precious emerald necklace from Lorraine's uncle, Count de Brissac, he is persuaded Lupin is the culprit. Is Emerson right or wrong? Which of the two men will win over Lorraine's heart?
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsWalter PidgeonVirginia BruceLeo CarrilloSociety lawyer Christopher Durant agrees to defend his friend Phil Siddall when Siddall is arrested for the murder of an ex-girlfriend. With the help of nightclub singer Pat Abbott and crime boss Tony Gazotti (a former client), Durant launches his own investigation of the murder in order to prove his friend's innocence.
- DirectorEdwin L. MarinStarsRobert MontgomeryRosalind RussellReginald OwenRare booksellers Joel and Garda Sloane are engaged to find who is stealing rare books from a private library.
- DirectorWilhelm ThieleStarsGeorge MurphyRita JohnsonVirginia FieldA newspaperman, his canine companion, and an adventurous socialite investigate an umbrella-wielding murderer who is terrorizing London.
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsBoris KarloffGrant WithersDorothy TreeDetective tries to solve the murder of antiques collector who was in possession of a famous jewel known as "The Eye of the Daughter of The Moon."
- DirectorLeslie FentonStarsVirginia BruceWalter PidgeonLee BowmanWealthy socialite Elizabeth Flagg is courted by persistent Michael McLain, despite her protests that she is a married woman. McLain is just charming enough to attract Elizabeth into a series of harmless dalliances. But when he tries to extort money from her, they quarrel violently and she shoots at him with his own gun. McLain's wife Eva is arrested for his murder. With strong circumstantial evidence against her, Eva seems sure to be convicted... until the guilt-ridden Elizabeth persuades her own husband, defense attorney Tyler Flagg, to take the woman's case. He does so, but without knowing of his wife's involvement.
- DirectorAlexander HallStarsMelvyn DouglasJoan BlondellClarence KolbKenny Williams, a lieutenant on the homicide squad, is engaged to Maxine Carroll, the Mayor's secretary--or is he married to his job? Every time he has a date with his longtime fiancée, he is prevented from keeping it by his devotion to duty. Maxine, in desperation, decides to take action and bring Kenny to the altar. Who will win, Maxine's curves or the glorious fight against crime?
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsWalter PidgeonRita JohnsonHenry HullDetective Nick Carter is brought in to foil spies at the Radex Airplane Factory, where a new fighter plane is under manufacture.
- DirectorW.S. Van DykeStarsWilliam PowellMyrna LoyVirginia GreyAn explosives manufacturer suspects a young man is out to kill him. He calls in new parents Nick and Nora to sort things out.
- DirectorJohn FordStarsHenry FondaAlice BradyMarjorie WeaverA fictionalized account of the early life of the American president as a young lawyer facing his greatest court case.
- DirectorVincent ShermanStarsGeorge BrentVirginia BruceBrenda MarshallAssistant District Attorney Stephen Forbes, an impressive orator with a long list of convictions, resigns when an innocent boy is convicted and the real murderer confesses too late. He opens a cheap law office and his secretary Joan Reed goes with him. Business is bad until he ties up with J.B. Roscoe, the contact man between city hall and the underworld. Forbes moves to a swanky office and adds two people to his staff - his younger brother John, who he helped through law school, and Celia Farraday. Celia helps John win his first case and the two fall in love. John realizes his brother's firm isn't honest and wants to break the underworld contact. He opens Steve's safe for federal authorities hunting evidence against Roscoe. But the latter plants enough circumstantial evidence against John that the latter is convicted of murder and sent to death row.
- DirectorJames FloodElliott NugentStarsWarren WilliamSidney FoxAline MacMahonProsecutor becomes a defense attorney after an innocent man is sent to an electric chair.
- DirectorGeorge B. SeitzStarsWalter PidgeonDonald MeekKaren VerneA body is found in a locked airplane compartment and a German female refugee is a suspect. Passenger, detective Nick Carter, is convinced she didn't do it and works to solve the mysterious murder.
- DirectorJacques TourneurStarsWalter PidgeonDonald MeekJoseph SchildkrautAn insurance company tasks with Carter and Beeswax to go to Panama where cargo ships are mysteriously exploding and sending their valuable cargoes to the bottom with all hands.
- DirectorCharles VidorStarsBrian AherneRita HayworthGlenn FordA juror in a murder trial takes pity on the recently acquitted defendant and invites her to move into his family's home and his son soon falls in love with her.
- DirectorHarold S. BucquetStarsLew AyresLionel BarrymoreLaraine DayKildare saves the life of an ice skater who was in an auto accident. But even though her broken leg has knit, she can't walk, and she tries to sue Kildare for malpractice, and Kildare's entire career and reputation now rests on making a proper diagnosis in the courtroom.
- DirectorNorman TaurogStarsRosalind RussellWalter PidgeonEdward ArnoldTo save his job, newsman Jeff Sherman offers to help his boss get out of a swingeing alimony settlement. But his devious plan to compromise Cornelia Porter, the judge on the case, while she is on holiday at Cape Cod soon proves to be - well - too devious!
- DirectorWilliam NighStarsPatric KnowlesLionel AtwillAnne GwynneA mysterious vigilante known as "Dr. Rx" strikes again. Assigned to the case is private detective Jerry Church but the crimes are baffling and involve strangulation and a possible attempt to implant a gorilla's brain into a human body.
- DirectorFrank BorzageStarsFrank MorganKathryn GraysonSpring ByingtonBiography of Robert Yancey, long-term district attorney in Lynchburg, Virginia.
- DirectorLewis SeilerStarsHumphrey BogartIrene ManningRichard TravisFearing life in prison for a fourth offense, convict Duke Berne pulls out of an armored car robbery, planned by his crooked lawyer, but he is framed for the robbery anyway.
- DirectorS. Sylvan SimonStarsVan HeflinPatricia DaneCecilia ParkerClassic whodunit mystery film about a gold-digging variety show actress who has many enemies and is found dead in her private railroad car at Grand Central Station in New York.
- DirectorFred ZinnemannStarsVan HeflinMarsha HuntLee BowmanCrime lab expert Gordon McKay uses the latest forensic techniques to solve murders in a city plagued by political corruption and mob rackets.
- DirectorGeorges LacombeStarsPierre FresnayMichèle AlfaSuzy DelairSix friends promise to share their fortune in 5 years. The moment is very close, but one of the six is mysteriously murdered, then another... Superintendent Wenceslas Woroboyioetschik (aka Wens) is in charge of the investigation...
- DirectorIrving CummingsStarsEdmund LoweEvelyn BrentConstance CummingsAn ambitious lawyer uses circumstantial evidence to help convict an innocent man then tries to make amends with his family.