A Woman is the Judge (1939)

A courtroom drama that dials up the melodrama.

Mary (Frieda Inescourt) is a well-known judge on the circuit who is promoted to preside over more serious cases. However, behind the successful career, Mary has a secret. Twenty years before she had a daughter who was taken away by her estranged and crooked husband. Mary never gives up the hope she will see her daughter again one day.

Unfortunately, that day comes when the case of a major criminal reaches her court. One of the members of the crime boss' gang is Justine (Rochelle Hudson) - who is Mary's daughter! Soon, Justine is accused of murder of her blackmailer. Mary resigns from the bench to defend her daughter.

The film is rather melodramatic and has the kind of coincidences you would later see regularly in TV soap operas but it isn't that bad a film. An interesting if not overly entertaining film.

The Witness Chair (1936)

A superb courtroom drama with the required twists, turns and sensation.

Businessman Stanley Whittaker (Douglas Dumbrille) is found dead in his office, an apparent suicide with a typed letter provided that says he admitted to embezzling the company and tried to blame Jim Trent (Walter Abel) for it. 

However, the police are suspicious and soon Trent is arrested for murder. To Paula Young's (Ann Harding) horror the trial is going badly for Trent, whom she loves. Also, it comes out that Trent's daughter (Frances Sage) was having an affair with Whittaker. Finally, Paula decides she must make a shocking admission herself...

After a first act in the office the majority of the film takes place in the courtroom and it is a solid film with a good story, with a number of facets which are gradually revealed, even if court procedure seems a bit lax at times.

Rumpole's Return (1980)

Horace Rumpole (Leo McKern) indeed returned from attempted retirement in this TV movie. Having finally left the Old Bailey he tried to enjoy the delights of Miami with She Who Must Be Obeyed (Peggy Thorpe-Bates) but was soon back in London attracted by the case of a stabbing at Kentish Town tube station.

However Rumpole has difficulty getting back in chambers as the likes of Erskine-Brown (Julian Curry) and Featherstone (Peter Bowles) were rather hoping he would have stayed retired. He manages to get a pornography case though loses it, he is finally given the tube stabbing case in the hope one more failure could finish his career off once and for all...

Luckily for Rumpole a vital link to the crime is a religious cult based back in Miami so Rumpole gets his son Nick (Ian Gelder) to investigate...

Rumpole is on good form though the TV episode-nature of the usual Rumpole story is stretched to it's limit. There is a bit of padding but not enough to ruin matters. The on-location scenes in Miami add a bit of variety also seem to ultimately go nowhere.

Disorder in the Court (1936)

The Three Stooges are called as witnesses at a murder trial, what could go wrong? Apart from everything?

Curly, Larry and Moe witnessed the murder of the boss at a night club they were playing at. Gail (Susanne Kaaren) is accused of the murder as she was found over the corpse with a revolver. However after much slapstick nonsense she is cleared but finding out the real murderer means chasing a parrot around a court room that is gradually being destroyed...

One of the best Three Stooges shorts with great dynamism is the comedy, plenty of slap stick and funny word play. We also get a music and dance number too, where Kaaren could show off her million dollar insured legs!

Cross-Examination (1932)

You can't beat a good courtroom drama and this is a superior example of the genre. It stars Don Dillaway as David Wells, accused of killing his father Emory (William Mong). David was about to be disinherited by his father (to be honest he was about to disinherit everyone) and when Emory is found dead David is the natural suspect.

H.B. Warner plays the defence attorney who does an excellent job though the case isn't blown open until David's mother Mary (Sarah Padden) turns up to tell the true nature of Emory and David.

The film takes place mostly in the courtroom with flashbacks to show the testimony of the witnesses. The courtroom scenes are excellent and tense, the whole film being well paced. The only problem with the film is that the case against David is actually pretty flimsy in the first place. The police don't seem to have done a lot of investigation and not found any actual direct evidence he did anything. Still the truth is out in the end.