''Circumstantial Evidence'' is a 1945 American

film noir Film noir (; ) is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and motivations. The 1940s and 1950s are generally regarded as the "classic period" of American ' ...

directed by John Larkin and starring Michael O'Shea,

Lloyd Nolan Lloyd Benedict Nolan (August 11, 1902 – September 27, 1985) was an American film and television actor. Among his many roles, Nolan is remembered for originating the role of private investigator Michael Shayne in a series of 1940s B movies. Bi ...

, and Trudy Marshall.

Plot

Three witnesses swear they saw Joe Reynolds murder grumpy baker Kenny ( Ben Welden) with a hatchet. Joe claims Kenny's fatal head wound was the result of a fall as they argued—the baker hit his head on an oven as he fell—but the eyewitness testimony prevails and Joe is sentenced to death in the electric chair. His buddy Sam Lord has an uphill struggle to prove his innocence.

Cast

* Michael O'Shea as Joe Reynolds *

as Sam Lord * Trudy Marshall as Agnes Hannon * Billy Cummings as Pat Reynolds *

Ruth Ford Ruth Ford (July 7, 1911 – August 12, 2009) was an American actress and model. Her brother was the Bohemianism, bohemian surrealist Charles Henri Ford. Their parents owned or managed hotels in the American South, and the family regularly move ...

as Mrs. Simms * Reed Hadley as Prosecutor *

Roy Roberts Roy Roberts (born Roy Barnes Jones, March 19, 1906 – May 28, 1975) was an American character actor. Over his more than 40-year career, he appeared in more than nine hundred productions on stage and screen. Life and career Born in Tampa ...

as Marty Hannon * Scotty Beckett as Freddy Hanlon ;Uncredited (in order of appearance)

Critical reception

Bosley Crowther, the film critic for '' The New York Times'' panned the film, writing, "Darryl Zanuck must have had his back turned when ''Circumstantial Evidence'' slipped out the front gate of the Twentieth Century-Fox Studio. For a sillier and more tediously worked-out piece of crime melodrama than the picture which opened yesterday at the Rialto hasn't reached Broadway in a long, long time. ''Circumstantial Evidence'' is so full of hackneyed and incredible plot turns that one can never get even slightly interested in the involved set of circumstances which almost send a quite innocent, if belligerent, Michael O'Shea to the electric chair."Crowther, Bosley
''The New York Times,'' film review, April 21, 1945. Last accessed: February 11, 2010.

References

External links

* * * {{YouTube, mKLHnCNb924, ''Circumstantial Evidence'' film trailer 1945 films 1945 drama films 20th Century Fox films American black-and-white films Film noir Films scored by David Buttolph American drama films 1940s English-language films 1940s American films