Circumstantial Evidence

Okay indictment of circumstantial evidence, when a man (Michael O'Shea) is convicted of murder and sentenced to death for a murder no one actually saw him commit. His son and his best friend set out to prove his innocence. Pretty fair B movie.

When his son has his new hatchet seized by a mean shopkeeper, Michael O'Shea goes to wrangle it out, and gets into a fight. While they are tussling over the hatchet, the witnesses see the man go down, and testify in court that O'Shea killed the man. O'Shea winds up on Death Row, while best friend Lloyd Nolan tries to take care of the boy. It's a very late Fox B, and while the people in front of and behind the camera do their best, it all comes off as mechanical. On top of that, it's a misleading title; as any trial lawyer will tell you, witnesses are very unreliable in what they report, and easily manipulable. Despite attempts to provide some tension, it's rather flat.

Odd B picture about a mailman (Lloyd Nolan) who sets out to prove a man (Michael O'Shea) is innocent of murder. What makes this one odd is, for starters, the mailman's relationship with young boys is definitely something of its era. It's all harmless enough in the context of the film's story but it's hard to see it flying today. The guy and his wife don't have any kids so he fills that void by being an uncle figure to the local boys, including the son of the guy who is accused of murder. He comes off as a little pushy and even creepy to me. The weirdest part is that he is largely responsible for getting the guy in trouble in the first place. On top of that he seems anxious to step in and replace the dad in the kid's life. It's all very strange considering he's not the villain here and his actions aren't supposed to be suspicious to the audience. Worth a look for the weird factor but as a movie it's basically a passable time-killer at best.