Please Murder Me! (1956)

A lawyer suffers a guilt complex after getting a murder acquittal for his client, and then finding out she did commit the crime.

Director:

Peter Godfrey

Writers:

Al C. Ward (screenplay), Donald Hyde (screenplay)

Stars:

Angela Lansbury, Raymond Burr, Dick Foran

Cast

Cast overview:
Angela Lansbury	...	Myra Leeds
Raymond Burr	...	Craig Carlson
Dick Foran	...	Joe Leeds
John Dehner	...	Ray Willis
Lamont Johnson	...	Carl Holt
Robert Griffin	...	Lou Kazarian
Denver Pyle	...	Lieut. Bradley
Alex Sharp	...	The Sergeant
Lee Miller	...	The Patrolman
Madge Blake	...	Jenny
Russell Thorson	...	The Judge (as Russ Thorson)

Storyline

A lawyer wins an acquittal for his client, a woman accused of murder. After the verdict, he finds out that she indeed did commit the murder and manipulated him to win her acquittal. Guilt-ridden, and knowing that she can't be tried again for the murder, he devises a plan to bring her to justice.

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Plot Keywords:

loading a gun | reel to reel tape recorder | black cat | thunderstorm | murder confession | 

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Taglines:

THE DEADLIEST PACT EVER MADE! (original print ad - all caps)

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Genres:

Crime | Drama | Film-Noir | Thriller

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Certificate:

Approved

Did You Know?

Trivia

This is one of Lamont Johnson's last movies as an actor before becoming a full-time director.

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Quotes

Myra Leeds: I'll just have a coke if you don't mind, my husband doesn't like me to drink during the day. He thinks it's a bad habit to get into; alcohol I mean.

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Connections

Referenced in The Killing Floor (2007)

User Reviews

Burr Auditions for Perry Mason

A wife kills her husband, while she carries on an affair with his best friend who also happens to be a defense attorney.

Inexpensive little programmer that would work just as well as a movie made for TV. Still it has a good tight script, with a few twists, and two fine actors. It's Raymond Burr a year before Perry Mason and I expect his courtroom scenes here did a lot to win him the lead in Mason. He carries them off with real authority. Then there's Lansbury as the calculating ice queen, and I stopped counting her smiles after one. She does make a convincing spider woman, however.

There's little action, while the courtroom scene takes up a lot of time. Still the plot line is an interesting one of intrigue and misdirection. So there are compensations to the talky format. One does have to wonder, however, about attorney Carlson's (Burr) iron sense of retribution. It appears a key plot contrivance, but an interesting one given the circumstances of his guilt. Should mention, at the same time, the presence of the great John Dehner in the key supporting role of county DA. His is a familiar face from that time, and I don't think he ever turned in a second-rate performance, no matter the role. Anyway, it's highly obscure little movie, but not without compensations.

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

1 March 1956 (USA)

Also Known As:

Please Murder Me!

Filming Locations:

California Studios - 5530 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Gross-Krasne Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

78 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Black and White

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1