Counsel for Crime

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Counsel for Crime is a 1937 American crime drama directed by John Brahm. It stars Otto Kruger, Douglass Montgomery, and Jacqueline Wells. After law school, Paul Maddox—adopted son of Senator Robert Maddox—gets a job at the firm run by the unscrupulous lawyer Bill Mellon. Mellon is actually Paul’s real father, but he keeps that a secret. When Paul uncovers Mellon’s corruption, he quits and becomes an assistant district attorney, helping to lead a state probe into legal malpractice. Mellon, worried about the investigation, hires a criminal to trap the investigators. The criminal discovers Paul’s birth, and Mellon accidentally shoots him to hide the truth. Paul then prosecutes his own father, who is convicted of second-degree murder for refusing to discuss the papers involved in their dispute, thereby protecting Paul and his mother. The film runs 61 minutes.