''Guilty Hands'' is a 1931 American

pre-Code Pre-Code Hollywood was the brief era in the American film industry between the widespread adoption of sound in film in 1929LaSalle (2002), p. 1. and the enforcement of the Motion Picture Production Code censorship guidelines, popularly known ...

crime film starring Lionel Barrymore, Kay Francis and

Madge Evans Madge Evans (born Margherita Evans; July 1, 1909 – April 26, 1981) was an American stage and film actress.Obituary ''Variety'', April 29, 1981. She began her career as a child performer and model. Biography Child model and stage actress B ...

and directed by W. S. Van Dyke, with uncredited assistance from Barrymore. The story concerns an attorney who murders a man who wants to marry his daughter.

Plot

On a train trip, lawyer Richard Grant ( Lionel Barrymore) tells fellow passengers that, based on his long experience both prosecuting and defending murder cases, murder is sometimes justified and a clever man should be able to commit it undetected. He is traveling to the isolated estate of his wealthy client and friend, Gordon Rich (

Alan Mowbray Alan Mowbray (born Alfred Ernest Allen; 18 August 1896 – 25 March 1969) was an English stage and film actor who found success in Hollywood. Early life Mowbray was born in London, England. He served with distinction in the British Army in Wo ...

); his young adult daughter Barbara (

) surprises him at the train station, where she informs him that she has already been there a week. Grant's view is soon put to the test. Rich asks him to rewrite his will, including bequests to all his former mistresses (except one who is dead already; she was just 16, and Grant believes it was suicide). When Rich explains that he wants a new will because he intends to marry Barbara, Grant is appalled. He repeats what he said on the train. Rich deserves to be murdered, and if that is what it takes to stop the marriage, Grant will do it and get away with it. Rich retorts that if necessary he will retaliate from beyond the grave. Grant pleads with his daughter, pointing out the great age difference and Rich's indecent character. But she loves Rich and is adamant. Nor has Tommy Osgood ( William Bakewell), a young man Barbara had been seeing, been able to change her mind. At a dinner party that night, Rich announces the wedding and says it will take place in the morning. His longtime girlfriend, Marjorie West ( Kay Francis), is dismayed, but after the party he assures her that, as usual, he will return to her once he exhausts his obsession with Barbara. He is only marrying Barbara because she would not go to bed with him otherwise. Rich orders two servants to watch Grant's bungalow on the estate, but Grant uses a cutout mounted on a

record player A phonograph, in its later forms also called a gramophone (as a trademark since 1887, as a generic name in the UK since 1910) or since the 1940s called a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogu ...

to cast a moving shadow on the curtain to make it appear that he is pacing restlessly, and slips back to the main house. Meanwhile, Rich goes to Barbara's room. He loses control and grabs her roughly; she recoils in disgust and he leaves. Rich then writes a letter to the police accusing Grant in case he is found dead. At this point, Grant sneaks into the room, takes Rich's gun from his desk, and shoots him during a clap of thunder. Grant places the gun in the dead man's hand, takes the letter, and returns to his room just in time to be seen by the servants. When the body is discovered, Grant insists that his host must have committed suicide. To Grant's shock, Barbara soon informs him that she had changed her mind, rendering the crime unnecessary. Alone of all the houseguests, Marjorie West is certain it was murder. She figures out how Grant concocted his alibi, then accidentally finds the imprint of the incriminating letter on the desk blotter. However, Grant returns and wrestles the evidence away from her. He tells her that if she accuses him, he will trump up a murder case against her, based on her jealousy of Barbara and her inheritance under Rich's existing will; but if not, she is free to enjoy Rich's fortune. When the police arrive, West is uncertain what to do. The coroner examines (and moves) the body. The chief of police, an old friend, accepts Grant's "conclusion" that it was suicide. West finally decides to speak out, but just then a gradual

rigor mortis Rigor mortis (Latin: ''rigor'' "stiffness", and ''mortis'' "of death"), or postmortem rigidity, is the third stage of death. It is one of the recognizable signs of death, characterized by stiffening of the limbs of the corpse caused by chemic ...

contraction of the victim's trigger finger fires the gun, fatally wounding Grant. "You did it, Rich", he remarks. He then asks Tommy to take good care of Barbara. Seeing no reason to hurt Barbara, Marjorie decides to remain silent.

Cast

* Lionel Barrymore as Richard Grant * Kay Francis as Marjorie West *

as Barbara "Babs" Grant * William Bakewell as Tommy Osgood *

C. Aubrey Smith Sir Charles Aubrey Smith (21 July 1863 – 20 December 1948) was an English Test cricketer who became a stage and film actor, acquiring a niche as the officer-and-gentleman type, as in the first sound version of ''The Prisoner of Zenda'' (1937) ...

as Reverend Hastings *

Polly Moran Pauline Theresa Moran (June 28, 1883 – January 25, 1952) billed as Polly Moran, was an American actress of vaudeville, stage and screen and comedian. Career Born in Chicago, Illinois, Moran started in vaudeville, and widely toured North A ...

as Aunt Maggie *

as Gordon Rich * Forrester Harvey as Spencer Wilson * Charles Crockett as H. G. Smith * Henry Barrows as Harvey Scott * Sam McDaniel as Jimmy (uncredited) *

Blue Washington Edgar Hughes "Blue" Washington (12 February 1898 – 15 September 1970) was an American actor and baseball player who played in the Negro leagues from 1915 to 1920 as a pitcher and first baseman. Baseball career Washington started his baseba ...

as Johnny (uncredited)

References

External links

* * * * {{W. S. Van Dyke 1931 films 1931 crime drama films American crime drama films American black-and-white films Films set on trains Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer films Films directed by Lionel Barrymore Films directed by W. S. Van Dyke 1930s American films