Plot Summary for
Call Northside 777 (1948) More at IMDbPro »

In 1932, a cop is killed and Frank Wiecek sentenced to life. Eleven years later, a newspaper ad by Frank's mother leads Chicago reporter P.J. O'Neal to look into the case. For some time, O'Neal continues to believe Frank guilty. But when he starts to change his mind, he meets increased resistance from authorities unwilling to be proved wrong. Written by Rod Crawford <puffinus@u.washington.edu>

When a woman places an ad in the Chicago Times offering a $5,000 reward for information that will exonerate her son, the newspaper assigns report P.J. McNeal to look into case. He learns that 11 years earlier, Frank Wiecek was convicted of killing an on duty police officer in a speakeasy and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. McNeal is quite skeptical as to his innocence and only slowly comes to realize that there was a miscarriage of justice. The real question is whether he can find evidence that would convince the pardon board and obtain Wiecek's release. Written by garykmcd

The whole story takes place in Chicago. A policeman is murdered in a cold-blooded way in one of some illicit taprooms. Tomek Zaleska who on the ill-fated night was staying at Franek's flat is suspected of the homicide. They are both sentenced to 99 years of prison, with the conviction based merely on the testimony of one witness. Frank's mother who believes that her son is innocent after eleven years places an announcement in the local newspaper in which she offers 5000 dollars reward for anybody who would prove the innocence of her son. The chief editor of Chicago Times gets interested in the case and commissions to one of his journalists, McNeal (in this part great James Stewart) writing an article about it. Initially his view on the issue is quite skeptical, but later on he gradually starts to believe that Frank is innocent. He also faces the growing resistance from the local authorities. Written by arysto

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