An Act of Murder (1948)

A hard-line judge is tempted toward mercy-killing by his wife's terminal cancer.

Director:

Michael Gordon

Writers:

Ernst Lothar (novel), Michael Blankfort (screenplay),

Stars:

Fredric March, Edmond O'Brien, Florence Eldridge

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Fredric March	...	Judge Calvin Cooke
Edmond O'Brien	...	David Douglas
Florence Eldridge	...	Catherine Cooke
Geraldine Brooks	...	Ellie Cooke
Stanley Ridges	...	Doctor Walter Morrison
John McIntire	...	Judge Ogden
Frederic Tozere	...	Charles Dayton
Will Wright	...	Judge Jim Wilder
Virginia Brissac	...	Mrs. Russell
Francis McDonald	...	Mr. Russell
Mary Servoss	...	Julia
Don Beddoe	...	Pearson
Clarence Muse	...	Mr. Pope

Storyline

Judge Cooke, good husband and father, is known in court as Old Man Maximum. Cooke's daughter loves defender Dave Douglas, who hates Cooke's attitude toward defendants. Cooke's life shatters when he learns his wife has terminal brain cancer; as her pain worsens, he begins to consider mercy-killing, but that would place him in the position of a defendant.

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Plot Keywords:

mercy killing | cancer | judge | brain | legal issue | 

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Taglines:

MERCY or MURDER? Can you condemn this man?

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir

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Certificate:

Approved

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 1948 (Sweden)

Also Known As:

I Stand Accused

Filming Locations:

Colonial Street, Backlot, Universal Studios - 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Universal International Pictures (UI)

Technical Specs

Runtime:

91 min

Sound Mix:

Mono (Western Electric Recording)

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

"Nemo me impune lacessit," the Latin phrase quoted by Judge Wilder during the dinner party, means "No one attacks me unpunished." It is the motto of the Scottish Order of the Thistle, and is also used on certain Scottish and British royal coats of arms.

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Quotes

Doctor Walter Morrison: What is incurable today is curable next Wednesday.

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Connections

Version of I accuse (1941)

User Reviews

Not for hypochondriacs!

This film's relentless plotline marches straight-ahead forward as you squirm, fascinated, in your chair. The story is the familiar one about the onset of terminal illness within a solid American family of the 1940s. Never mind that it delves into MGM-style sermonizing; the great real-life husband/wife team of Fredric March and Florence Eldridge portray the couple whose once-comfortable lives are now being separated by an unstoppable and fast-advancing disease. The helpless husband, the uncomplaining wife, and their final attempt to recapture happier days with a doomed weekend outing is the stuff of deep film drama indeed. The sense of onrushing darkness is tangible through the film-noir camera shadings of Hal Mohr (Captain Blood, Phantom of the Opera [1943], The Climax), and Daniele Amfitheatrof's rich musical score. "An Act of Murder" makes a profound statement on the value, and the fragility, of life.