They Won't Forget (1937)

A politically ambitious district attorney, unscrupulous tabloid journalists, and regional prejudice combine to charge a teacher with the murder of his student.

Director:

Mervyn LeRoy (uncredited)

Writers:

Ward Greene (novel), Robert Rossen (screen play)

Stars:

Claude Rains, Gloria Dickson, Edward Norris

1 win.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Claude Rains	...	Andy Griffin
Gloria Dickson	...	Sybil Hale
Edward Norris	...	Robert Hale
Otto Kruger	...	Gleason
Allyn Joslyn	...	Bill Brock
Lana Turner	...	Mary Clay
Linda Perry	...	Imogene Mayfield
Elisha Cook Jr.	...	Joe Turner
Cy Kendall	...	Detective Laneart
Clinton Rosemond	...	Tump Redwine
E. Alyn Warren	...	Carlisle P. Buxton
Elisabeth Risdon	...	Mrs. Hale (as Elizabeth Risdon)
Clifford Soubier	...	Jim Timberlake
Granville Bates	...	Detective Pindar
Ann Shoemaker	...	Mrs. Mountford

Storyline

A southern town is rocked by scandal when teenager Mary Clay is murdered on Confederate Decoration Day. Andrew Griffin, a small-time lawyer with political ambitions, sees the crime as his ticket to the Senate if he can find the right victim to finger for the crime. He sets out to convict Robert Hale, a transplanted northerner who was Mary's teacher at the business school where she was killed. Despite the fact that all the evidence against Hale is circumstantial, Griffin works with a ruthless reporter to create a media frenzy of prejudice and hate against the teacher.

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Plot Keywords:

buxom | teacher | prejudice | media frenzy | student | 

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Genres:

Drama | Film-Noir | Mystery

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Certificate:

Passed

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

9 October 1937 (USA)

Also Known As:

Death in the Deep South

Filming Locations:

Warner Brothers Burbank Studios - 4000 Warner Boulevard, Burbank, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Warner Bros.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

95 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Film debut of Gloria Dickson.

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Goofs

Anytime during the entire trial the shadow of the window is showing in the same place; behind the witness chair / over the back door of the courtroom.

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Quotes

Drugstore Clerk: What'll it all be be, ladies?
Imogene Mayfield: Dope and cherry, Fred.
Drugstore Clerk: [to Mary] How about you, half-pint?
Mary Clay: Make mine a chocolate malt and drop an egg in it as fresh as you are.
Drugstore Clerk: The hens don't lay 'em that good.

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Connections

Featured in Warner at War (2008)

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Soundtracks

Battle Hymn of the Republic
(ca 1856) (uncredited)
Music by William Steffe
Played when Lincoln's statue is shown

User Reviews

Helluva Fast Civics Lesson

Quick-paced film from the late thirties, directed by Mervyn Le Roy, They Won't Forget in an eminently memorable lesson in how gossip, rumor, innuendo and ignorance can get a man lynched. Set in the Depression-era South, it perhaps lacks atmosphere, as I've seen more convincing pictures of this region. Nor are the actors especially believable as Southerners. Claude Rains is unable to harness his innate Britishness in his portrayal of the DA, maybe the film's single biggest drawback. But the other actors, with or without the appropriate Dixie cadences are superb, notably Allyn Joslyn, in his movie debut, as an amoral, opportunistic reporter. I'm particularly fond of Gloria Dickson's heartfelt performance as the accused man's wife, and sad to read that she died so young. This is an excellent film of its type: the Warner Brothers 'message picture'. It is not aesthetically pleasing in its detail or dialogue, but this was not the point. It gets the job done, stimulates the intellect and the emotions, and moves like lightning.