Le tueur aux aguets

Gangster Anthony Caruso is up on murder charges. Into his hands falls proof that Marjie Millar, the daughter of county prosecutor Raymond Greenleaf, is actually the daughter of a woman Greenleaf put in prison for life; Miss Millar was born in prison, Greenleaf adopted her, and no one knows it. Caruso has the trial venue shifted so Greenleaf is the prosecutor, then blackmails him into dismissing in return for not revealing his daughter's shameful origins. This riles up businessman Ralph Dumke into getting Greenleaf recalled; the replacement is John Hudson, Dumke's nephew and Miss Millar's fiance. He immediately reopens the case against Caruso.

Greenleaf gets a rare chance to headline a movie, and is just fine as an aw-shucks sort of lawyer, whom Slim Pickens (whose character name here is 'Slim Pickett') keeps trying to retire so they can go fishing every day. The serious parts of the movie are entirely predictable, but director R. G. Springsteen brings a delightful air to the goings-on of a small county seat, reminiscent of John Ford's collaborations with Will Rogers. Keep an eye out for Mary Treen, Morris Ankrum, Dick Elliott, Richard Deacon, and in his last movie, Robert Emmett Keane.