This film tells of a serious murder trial, where the defendant says he suffered temporary madness before killing his wife. The accused says the victim raped his wife but the case may well be hidden.
As an entertaining look at legal process, this is spellbinding all the way, infused by an ambiguity about human personality and motivation that is Preminger's trademark, and the location shooting is superb.
Preminger purposely creates situations that flicker with uncertainty, that may be evaluated in different ways. Motives are mixed and dubious, and, therefore, sustain interest.
Even with the glut of crime-related TV dramas that pepper today's screens, you'd be hard pressed to find a courtroom story that doesn't have you rooting one way or the other with a heavy-handed POV. This one doesn't it's way ahead of its time.
Otto Preminger, no stranger to ruffling moral-watchdog feathers, never succumbs to the sleaziness inherent in the material, instead turning out an intelligent and tightly controlled drama that ranks as one of the all-time great courtroom procedurals.
