''Let Us Live'' is a 1939 American

crime film Crime films, in the broadest sense, is a film genre inspired by and analogous to the crime fiction literary genre. Films of this genre generally involve various aspects of crime and its detection. Stylistically, the genre may overlap and combine ...

directed by

John Brahm John Brahm (August 17, 1893 – October 12, 1982) was a German film and television director. His films include '' The Undying Monster'' (1942), '' The Lodger'' (1944), ''Hangover Square'' (1945), ''The Locket'' (1946), ''The Brasher Doubloon'' (1 ...

starring

Maureen O'Sullivan Maureen O'Sullivan (17 May 1911 – 23 June 1998) was an Irish-American actress, who played Jane in the ''Tarzan'' series of films during the era of Johnny Weissmuller. She performed with such actors as Laurence Olivier, Greta Garbo, William ...

Henry Fonda Henry Jaynes Fonda (May 16, 1905 – August 12, 1982) was an American actor. He had a career that spanned five decades on Broadway and in Hollywood. He cultivated an everyman screen image in several films considered to be classics. Born and ra ...

and

Ralph Bellamy Ralph Rexford Bellamy (June 17, 1904 – November 29, 1991) was an American actor whose career spanned 65 years on stage, film, and television. During his career, he played leading roles as well as supporting roles, garnering acclaim and ...

. The script of the film was adapted from the 1936 Harper's Magazine story "Murder in Massachusetts" by Joseph F. Dinneen about a real criminal case. In 1934 two Boston taxi drivers were identified by several witnesses as the culprits who murdered a man during a theater robbery in

Lynn, Massachusetts Lynn is the eighth-largest municipality in Massachusetts and the largest city in Essex County. Situated on the Atlantic Ocean, north of the Boston city line at Suffolk Downs, Lynn is part of Greater Boston's urban inner core. Settled by E ...

. Their trial was in progress for two weeks and it seemed likely that the two were going to be found guilty, when the real killers were arrested for another crime and then admitted to the Lynn robbery-murder. Columbia Pictures had planned a much bigger production, but after political pressure from the state of Massachusetts the film's budget and publicity were scaled down considerably, and it was ultimately released as a B movie.

Plot

On the eve of his marriage to waitress Mary Roberts (O'Sullivan), taxi driver "Brick" Tennant is questioned as a murder suspect along with 120 other drivers, because a taxi served as the getaway car in a theater robbery in which a man was killed. When one of the witnesses swears that Brick and his friend Joe Linden (Baxter) were the killers, the district attorney (Ridges), eager for a conviction, brings the taxi drivers to trial even though Brick and Mary were in a church when the robbery took place. Although innocent, Brick and Joe are found guilty and sentenced to die in the electric chair. Mary, however, refuses to give up hope, and when she unearths a bullet from another robbery that was shot from the murder weapon, she convinces police lieutenant Everett (Bellamy) that the wrong men have been convicted. To prove Brick and Joe's innocence, Everett and Mary search for the real culprits. As the time of his execution approaches, Brick is transformed from an idealistic youth into a man whose faith in the system has been shattered. On the day of the execution, Mary and Everett finally find the real culprits. The governor then pardons Brick, but although his life has been spared, his faith can never be repaired.

Cast

- Mary Roberts *

- 'Brick' Tennant *

- Lieutenant Everett * Alan Baxter - Joe Linden *

Stanley Ridges Stanley Charles Ridges (17 July 1890 – 22 April 1951) was an English-born, American actor who made more than 100 appearances in theatre and movies from 1917 to 1951. After his American film debut in ''Success'' (1923), he appeared in films s ...

- District Attorney *

Henry Kolker Joseph Henry Kolker (November 13, 1874 ome sources 1870– July 15, 1947) was an American stage and film actor and director. Early years Kolker was born in Quincy, Illinois. Career Kolker, like fellow actors Richard Bennett and Robert Wa ...

- Chief of Police * George Lynn - Joe Taylor (as Peter Lynn) * George Douglas - Ed Walsh *

Phillip Trent Phillip Trent (October 16, 1907, Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania – January 24, 2001, Englewood, New Jersey) was an American stage and film actor. He began his career on Broadway and starred in nine stage productions. He appeared in numerous films dur ...

- Frank Burke (as Philip Trent) *

Martin Spellman Martin Spellman IV (October 8, 1925 – May 6, 2020) was an American child actor active in films during the 1930s and 1940s. Career Martin Spellman IV was born in 1925 in Des Moines, Iowa. After his family moved to California, at the age of 9 ...

- Jimmy Dugan

References

External links

* * * * {{John Brahm 1939 films American black-and-white films Columbia Pictures films American crime thriller films Films directed by John Brahm 1930s crime thriller films Films produced by William Perlberg 1930s American films