They Won't Forget (1937) User Reviews (53)

Exceptional

[utgard14 · 8/10 · 24 November 2014]

In a small Southern town celebrating Confederate Memorial Day, a young woman (Lana Turner) is murdered. Suspicion quickly falls on her Northern teacher at business school, Robert Hale (Edward Norris), whom she had a crush on. Ambitious district attorney Andy Griffin (Claude Rains) uses this as an opportunity to build a name for himself, not caring about Hale's guilt or innocence. Hale is arrested and tried but the anti-Northern sentiment running through the town guarantees his trial won't be fair.

Great role for Claude Rains, who owns every scene he's in as a remorseless politician out to further his career regardless of cost. Edward Norris (Ann Sheridan's first husband) has probably his biggest role as Robert Hale and does a fine job. Film debut of Allyn Joslyn, who plays a slimy reporter colluding with Rains. Pretty Gloria Dickson plays Hale's wife. She has a potent speech at the end. First significant role for Lana Turner. Note the tight sweater which accentuates her...attributes. This is why she was dubbed "the sweater girl" early in her career. The rest of the cast is made up of familiar faces, including Otto Kruger and Elisha Cook, Jr.

Loosely based on the real story of Leo Frank, a Jewish man accused of murdering 13 year-old Mary Phagan in Georgia. He was lynched in 1915. The story here keeps antisemitism out of it, instead making it more of a focus on the resentments and prejudices of the South towards the North. Having grown up in the South, I know these sentiments were very real for many even decades after this movie was made. This is a film that examines everything from bigotry to mob mentality and the manipulation of the public by politicians and the media. Sociologically and historically relevant, it's a powerful movie from Warner Bros. with a good cast.

A lot of heat but not much light in LeRoy's Hollywood version of Mary Phagan murder

[bmacv · 7/10 · 11 January 2003]

One of Warner Brothers' `hard-hitting' social comment dramas of the 1930s, They Won't Forget leaves viewers all riled up – though, today, maybe less at the judicial process in the Deep South than at Mervyn LeRoy's depiction of it in the movie. Based not too loosely on the Mary Phagan murder case of 1913, it updates the events to the late Depression and also advances the victim's age (Phagan was 13; here, the victim – an unrecognizable Lana Turner, in her debut – is a student at a small business college).

It's Confederate Memorial Day, April 26, and the college lets out early, unexpectedly for instructor Edward Norris, a Northerner. But Turner returns for the vanity case she's left behind. Hours later, her body is discovered at the base of an elevator shaft. The town prosecutor (Claude Rains, slinging a Southern drawl) smells a political advantage that might propel him to the state senate, an advantage of no use if the perpetrator is only the illiterate black janitor who found her. Suspicion falls on Norris, and soon the judicial establishment, the press and the townspeople have turned against him. Outside help – a detective and a defense attorney – prove of no avail. Turner is convicted and sentenced to death; when the governor commutes his sentence, he's lynched (as was Leo Frank in the original case). It's fast, brutal and pretty unsentimental.

LeRoy was known for his slam-bang, take-no-prisoners style but here he dawdles at first. Under the credits is a medley of songs of the South, bolstered by quotations from Lincoln and Robert E. Lee to soften up those touchy audiences in Dixie so they won't know what hit them. When he gets up to speed, however, he doesn't slacken, cutting quick to advance the action – his movie's an unstoppable steamroller, just like the judicial railroading of the story (the lynching itself, expressed by a mailbag clipped off its hook by a passing train, is especially and darkly adroit).

But there's a near-fatal flaw in the story. We're meant to harbor persuasive doubts as to Norris' guilt, but the possibility of a suspect other than he is never more than fleetingly entertained. The movie purports to document a miscarriage of justice, but it fails to build an ironclad case.

Important Movie about Justice

[jtyroler · 8/10 · 5 August 2008]

Mary Clay, played by Lana Turner (living up to her sweater girl fame) very early in her career is a student at a small southern town's business college. She has a crush on her teacher, Professor Robert Hale, played by Edwin Norris. Hale, is a man from the north - not really welcomed in a town that has a parade for Confederate Memorial Day. After the class was dismissed, Mary and a friend went for a soda and Mary forgot her vanity case. She went back to the school and was murdered.

Local newspaper staff bursts into Hale's apartment, tells Hale's wife that he's in jail, and after she faints, newsmen search the apartment, taking a honeymoon photo, searching through drawers.

This movie demonstrates how a quest for political power can taint a trial. Being an "outsider" can make it difficult for a fair trial. Although this takes place in the south, mob justice can and has occurred all over the country during the 1920's and 1930's.

Neither will I

[dbdumonteil · 10 February 2007]

"They won't forget" is a tragedy.The first pictures show six old confederates veterans who play the part of the antique choir.They 'll come back when the drama is over.

"They won't forget" works as the mechanism of a clock.It's North versus South,Mother versus Mother, populace versus law ,integrity versus political career...It almost outshines Le Roy's previous masterpieces such as "I'm a fugitive from a chain gang" (both Paul Muni and Edward Norris portray men who cannot adapt themselves to the society they're part of:Muni because he 's just returned from war,Norris because he is one of those hateful Yankees for those southerners .

The movie is absorbing from start to finish and contains unforgettable scenes: -The parade ,our memorial day (which has not the same meaning for Hale) -Hale caught up in the system when the cops come to question him.

-The black janitor,crying "I didn't do it!I didn't do it!I'm afraid! I'm afraid! .The actor's performance is intense matching Claude Rains' and the rest of the uniformly good cast's .

-Joe Turner (Elisha Cook jr) claiming his innocence to Mary's sister ;it's so realistic we can see him sputter!

-the scene when Hale's wife (Gloria Dickson) gets his mother at the station where people are looking forward to watching a sensational trial.Everybody gathers for the feast as they will do in Billy Wilder's "Ace in the hole" (1951)

-the beautiful scene between the governor and his wife;this is the only one which leaves some hope about the human race.

-the train where we feel an impending threat,hellbound train indeed!

-Sybil's final words ,when she curses those who killed her husband ;actually the D.A.was not the only one responsible for the tragedy.The whole town played a part,from a coward barber to a hateful school principal ,from the greedy for scoops journalists to anonymous avengers .

"They won't forget" is a must.

Forget me knot

[Lejink · 6/10 · 14 June 2019]

While not in the same class as Fritz Lang's "Fury", (one of my favourite movies) on the same subject as mob rule, "They Won't Forget" for all its faults still makes a strong case against lynch law, which has to have been director / producer Mervyn LeRoy's primary intention here.

I understand that the prejudicial case against the defendant in this film was watered down to a simple North / South divide, when the actual source case on which the film is based was against a Northern Jew. I personally found it hard to credit that Yankee / Confederate bias alone could motivate so many of the locals to overlook the skimpy evidence raised against Edward Norris's Robert Hale character as to firstly convict him and then snatch him from the train taking him to prison to ruthlessly hang him themselves.

Interestingly, the film doesn't choose to resolve the question of who actually murdered young Mary Clay, which only helps to reinforce the anti-lynching message as the now dead man's widow's condemnatory words are the last spoken, leaving them ringing in the ears of the prosecuting District Attorney Claude Rains and hell-raising reporter Allyn Joslyn.

I found LeRoy's direction to be of mixed quality. On the debit side, he allows Rains to shout and point like a preening peacock, especially with his over-the-top grandstanding in the extended courtroom scenes, uses awkward devices like cutting to a screen-filling megaphone to commentate on the trial's progress and worst of all stereotypically treats a key witness, a black janitor, as a cringing, spineless simpleton, completely at the mercy of powerful white men. To his credit though, he effectively puts over Hale's destruction by metaphorically cutting to a speeding train snatching the night mail from a gallows-like stand and hey, he does discover Lana Turner, who in her brief screen time, makes a big impression as the unsuspecting young victim.

I wondered the whole length of the movie about the film title until that final scene when the distraught widow delivers the eulogy to her late husband's blinkered accusers which seemed to make clear to me the film's message was as much against capital punishment as lynching. Rains' overacting besides, there are better, more restrained performances in his considerable wake by the hapless young couple caught up in the maelstrom, Edward Norris and Gloria Dickson, Otto Kruger as the powerless defending attorney and a young Elisha Cook Jr as the victim's disgruntled boy-friend. The girl's two brothers and cousin who head up the mob however would give the Three Stooges a run for their money with their taciturn obtuseness.

Like I said, a movie of mixed quality but the central message struggles its way through and for that at least, director LeRoy is to be commended.

Emotionally gripping piece of American History.

[cabotcove · 10/10 · 2 June 2000]

Flawless blending of cynicism, humor and tragedy, this re-enactment of a real-life murder in the south consciously downplays the real-life anti-semitism in the real murder of Mary Phagan case, but carry more of an emotional wallop than the Jack Lemmon made-for-TV docudrama -- although the latter is still good on its own terms. Lana Turner has an impressive screen debut as the murder victim. Gloria Dickson is very powerful as the defendant's wife, and Claude Rains is magnificent as the politically minded prosecutor, but Allyn Joslyn as the cynical, burnt out reporter steals the show. A truly excellent example of how historically based movies can be among the most memorable.

Bundles of oppositions.

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 30 September 2007]

A pretty good story of the arrest, conviction, and lynching of a New York teacher (Edward Norris) in the South, blamed for the murder of a young Mary Clay (the braless Lana Turner) of which he may or may not be guilty. The ambitious DA who nails him is Claude Raines. Defense is provided by Otto Krueger. There are other familiar faces in the film, directed for Warner Brothers by Mervyn LeRoy.

I wonder what the folklorist Claude Levi-Strauss would make of this. He believed that people thought in categories, that thought was like language. One word was never like another word. Things were either the same or not the same. Likewise this movie seems to have very little in between one thing and its opposite. Levi-Strauss would probably have applauded.

The movie gives us North/South, Memorial Day/Decoration Day, Guilty/Innocent, Life/Death, Reason/Emotion, and a host of other oppositions. (It leaves out Christian/Jewish from the original case of Leo Franks.) The relatives of Mary Clay stop a train carrying the convicted suspect, who is about to be pardoned by the governor, and they hang him off screen. None of the townspeople seem to have any doubt about what's going to happen. And nobody seems to disapprove. They don't even mourn the victim, Mary Clay. Their shock turns immediately to rage without any intervening period of grief. The opposite of rage seems not to be sorrow for the lost Mary, but moral innocence. ("I didn't do it!", all the possible suspects shout.)

I suspect, in a way, the movie misses the point. It presents the story as a simple miscarriage of justice, prompted by the hostility of an insular community to an outsider. But, in essence, a lynching doesn't necessarily have to be the carrying out of some vernacular vision of justice. That's not the point. Nor is, "This'll teach 'em a lesson."

One important point of a lynching, perhaps the main point, is that it expresses community allegiance. It's a rite of intensification whose real purpose is not that different from the Memorial Day parade with which the film starts. It's like the Fourth of July or Christmas. Photos of lynchings usually show some of the spectators grinning at the camera. All that's missing is the fireworks. The significance is that this is an important community event in which WE were brave enough to take part. Once the smoke of battle clears the prevalent emotion is not the residue of rage but pride.

Some of the writing is pretty good. An example. During jury deliberations one man finds a note in his pocket: "Vote Guilty If You Feel Like Living." He's been holding out for the man's innocence. Now he tells the others angrily that he'll stick to his principles and not be swayed by threats. Another jurist, an elderly and avuncular type, explains to him that he's just worried about what people will say. It takes courage to disregard a death threat and vote guilty anyway. Nobody will think the worse of him if he votes along with the others. It's a smooth way of handling a truculent dissident. Vote guilty DESPITE the threat to kill you if you don't. That's the way a real man would do it. What a sales pitch, and delivered with such quiet confidence. Raines' prosecutor is equally adroit. "They say we're prejudiced against Yankees. Let's show them we're NOT prejudiced by hanging this guilty one and leaving the others alone!"

The acting is a little overwrought, on everybody's part, the direction is functional and the story, though camouflaged, states itself quickly and then ends without much wasted motion. Even a shot of a train rattling smokily over a bridge is under cranked so it appears in accelerated motion. The court and the press are both phony and should be jailed themselves, but they're not. It's a rather bitter ending when Raines and a reporter are watching the murdered man's wife leave town and the reporter muses, "I wonder if he was really innocent," and Raines dispassionately agrees that it's a good question. The justice system is certainly an efficient way of delivering pain to a lot of people.

Grim, powerful

[preppy-3 · 10/10 · 23 October 2001]

A young girl (Lana Turner in her first role) is killed in a small Southern town. A Northener, Robert Hale (Edward norris) is accused of it...but is he guilty? It doesn't seem to matter because everybody uses his accusation for their own gain. Fast moving, still relevant (sadly) look at prejudice, gossip, mob rule and media manipulation. Occasionally the characters give out unmotivated speeches (especially Hale's wife), but the movie is very well-written and acted with Claude Rain chewing the scenery again and again. A must see...don't miss this one!

tough watch

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 15 October 2020]

Robert Hale is a teacher from the north in a town proud of its southern heritage. Teen student Mary Clay has a crush on him. She is murdered in the closed school while most of the town is celebrating Confederate Memorial Day. The first suspicion falls on the black janitor but politically ambitious D.A. Andy Griffin (Claude Rains) is looking for bigger game. He soon focuses in on Hale with a tip from unscrupulous reporter Bill Brock. Despite being innocent, he is railroaded by both the judicial system and the media.

This is tough to watch for a few reasons. It's a really tough subject matter. It's tough to watch something so demented. It is a tabloid telling of a tabloid justice system. The acting is very broad except for the janitor. That actor shows real fear in his performance. The others are playing parts especially Claude Rains. He's playing a character who is playing a part in the drama. Edward Norris is a little too stiff. I can picture Jimmy Stewart doing a much better job. I do like the sleaziness of the reporters. All in all, there is real substance to this movie but it does need one more thing. I won't say what it is to not spoil the movie.

Masterly Crime Drama

[Ron Oliver · 10/10 · 11 February 2002]

A hideous crime rocks a Deep South community and those who exploited it know THEY WON'T FORGET the part they played in the shame & violence that ensued.

Of all the hard-hitting dramas produced by Warner Brothers Studio in the 1930's, this was one of the most powerful. Absolutely no holds are barred in showing the aftermath of the murder of a pretty college girl and how events took on a life of their own - crushing the innocent lives who got in the way of the town's thirst for revenge. The film starts whimsically with six ancient Confederate veterans - among them Harry Davenport, Harry Beresford & Edward McWade - on a park bench, reminiscing upon the dim past & wondering if their contributions will be remembered. Poignantly, evil is about to reemerge and the old men will soon disappear, the dead ashes of the past engulfed by the passionate flames of the present. An urgent plea against sectarian hatred & mindless violence, the film sweeps the viewer along to its ultimate shattering climax.

Claude Rains gives a knock-out performance as the local politician who sees the murder as a chance to sweep him into the State Senate. Using his considerable vocal talent - even with his somewhat bizarre idea of a Southern accent - Rains steamrollers over nearly everyone else in the cast, deftly showing his character's utter fixation on prosecuting the case.

Kudos should also be extended to Edward Norris as the Northern teacher accused of the murder; Lana Turner as the victim; Elisha Cook Jr. as her strangely nervous boyfriend; and especially Clinton Rosemond as the terrified black janitor who discovers the crime.

Although Warners is at pains at the outset to deny any connection the story might have with an actual occurrence, the film is roughly based on the notorious 1913 murder of Atlanta factory worker Mary Phagan.

Good Courtroom Drama - They Won't Forget

[arthur_tafero · 7/10 · 21 March 2022]

First, let's clarify one simple glaring error in the film. If the spot of blood on the teacher's coat is his own blood, then that would obviously sway a number of jurors. (yes, I know they didnt have CSI in those days, but they could still match his blood under a microscope with the spot fairly easily). It should have been a simple matter to analyze the blood to see if it was his or Mary's. Also, it might have been more satisfying to find out who the real murderer was near the end of the film, or if the teacher was the real murderer. I thought Rains was a bit hammy in this role; but his over the top performance might have been realistic, considering the personality of the Southern DA. There are a few other flaws, but generally speaking, the film is compelling and relentless. Good courtroom drama.

Helluva Fast Civics Lesson

[telegonus · 10/10 · 2 October 2001]

Quick-paced film from the late thirties, directed by Mervyn Le Roy, They Won't Forget in an eminently memorable lesson in how gossip, rumor, innuendo and ignorance can get a man lynched. Set in the Depression-era South, it perhaps lacks atmosphere, as I've seen more convincing pictures of this region. Nor are the actors especially believable as Southerners. Claude Rains is unable to harness his innate Britishness in his portrayal of the DA, maybe the film's single biggest drawback. But the other actors, with or without the appropriate Dixie cadences are superb, notably Allyn Joslyn, in his movie debut, as an amoral, opportunistic reporter. I'm particularly fond of Gloria Dickson's heartfelt performance as the accused man's wife, and sad to read that she died so young. This is an excellent film of its type: the Warner Brothers 'message picture'. It is not aesthetically pleasing in its detail or dialogue, but this was not the point. It gets the job done, stimulates the intellect and the emotions, and moves like lightning.

Fairly well made Anti-South rhetoric...It surely wasn't a murder mystery

[nomoons11 · 6/10 · 12 September 2011]

To start off with, If you think "To Kill a Mockingbird" was the first "you better not get in trouble in the South" films, think again. They won't Forget was 25 years before Mockingbird and just as controversial back in its day I'm willin' to bet.

I went into this thinking' it would just be a 1937 murder mystery but what I got was an Anti-South melodrama. I think it hooks you in from the beginning because a very young Lana Turner appears and to say she's beautiful is an absolute understatement. She is just stunning for the little time she appears in this film. The basic premise of the film is that her character gets murdered off early on and they try and railroad one character after another into the electric chair until they find one that fits the best.

You know how you know that this is just an Anti-South lesson? Sadly, you don't even know at the end who did do it. They just leave that part out. Most of the film concentrates on 1 character they think did it and go from there. The bad/fake southern accents and the lynching of the character who gets found guilty and gets his sentenced commuted to life at the end. Nowhere throughout the entire film does it point to anyone else. I mean not 1 character gets any light shed unto them on how they may be the actual killer. The character who gets convicted may have done it but you really have no clue. But that's the real point of the film. Your not suppose to know. It's all about how bad the southern judicial system is. This film concentrates solely on the "southern" angle. Kind of a North vs. South typa thing. It was just sad and way over stereotyped.

The worst part is that the first person to come upon the body of the girl is a black night watchman and of course they throw him in jail and scare him to tears by tellin him he's gonna be executed if he doesn't tell a load of lies on the stand because if he doesn't, the other accused man's lawyer is gonna point the murder on him. Of course you know back then that blacks rarely got a fair shake so they play that angle up real well.

I'm guessin you might be able to tell that I'm from the south..and I am...but there are much better films on the south that aren't so over the top on the subject matter. Go for To Kill a Mockingbird first. The ending is sad but you know that you'll walk away from it with a sense of not ever wanting to be like any of those characters that got him convicted. This film doesn't give you that at the end. All it says to you is.."better be glad you didn't live in the South way back when."

Ridiculous and over acted in the extreme.

[greggman · 3/10 · 29 January 2022]

I can't believe this movie is so highly rated. Maybe it's a time capsule of a time when evidence didn't matter? In any sensible movie the fact that there is no real evidence would dismiss the case.

Further, the acting is atrocious. Claude Rains has some great movies but this is not one of them. The acting feels like some local melodrama troupe in a small town.

North vs. South in this gripping courtroom drama helmed by the great Mervyn LeRoy

[boris-26 · 24 November 1998]

A dark haired, southern drawled Claude Rains has an actor's field day as D.A Andy Griffin. Griffin needs to win one sensational court case to move his career foward. He gets it when a Yankee school teacher (Edward Norris) is accused of murdering a high school girl (Fetching Lana Turner in her film debut) Griffin turns the trial into a media circus and a kangaroo court. The ending is grim, and Griffin gets what he wants. Mervyn LeRoy (Warner Brothers' prize director in the 1930's) moves the story along at rocket pace. He gets fine performances out of Rains, Norris, Otto Kruger and a young Elisha Cook Jnr. LeRoy always cut the fat from his films, meaning very rarely will he show an unimportant aspect of the story. (Example: a scene begins with a sobbing janitor calling the police. We see the police leave. Cut to them at the crime scene. Cut to them grilling their first suspect- the janitor- cut to a newspaper headline about the murder. all of this in about 12 seconds) A film far above average.

good but not great

[kyle_furr · 7/10 · 23 February 2004]

A young girl is murdered in a small southern town and her teacher is arrested for the murder. The entire town thinks he's guilty and Claude Rains is the prosecutor who is only thinking of political ambition. It's a good film and i didn't even recognize that the murdered girl was Lana Turner.

One of the best unknown films from the 1930s

[planktonrules · 9/10 · 15 July 2006]

It's really amazing that this film is rarely talked about today or even viewed as a classic, since it's one of the bravest and most exciting films of its time. It all takes place in a Southern town. A man is accused of a murder he did not commit. The prosecutor soon realizes the man didn't do it, but he's the perfect scapegoat (a Yankee who only recently moved to the South) AND he thinks he can milk this into a successful bid for the Senate! So, this cynical clod (so well played by Claude Rains), does nothing to help exonerate the man and encourages the mob mentality that is growing in the town.

What I particularly liked about the film is that it never ran from the course it had taken and copped out for a "Hollywood" ending. No, what occurs seems real and ugly and the film is full of ugly people, not sanitized ones. A gritty and compelling drama that is a must-see for serious fans of Hollywood's Golden Age.

For a similar film that is also worth seeing, try watching FURY (1936) with Spencer Tracy. For a similar film that is god-awful, try watching MOUNTAIN JUSTICE (1937)--don't say I didn't warn you about this one!

Circumstantial evidence

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 29 October 2004]

This film, as a curiosity piece, has its own rewards, but it has a dated feeling about it that even a director like Mervyn Leroy and his screenplay adapter, another would-be-director, Robert Rossen, can't overcome. This tragedy has been told in different ways before, as it's was a sensational crime story.

The resentment in the South over the defeat during the Civil War took ages to heal. In the film we are shown a small town where prejudice is a way of life because of ignorance. It's a story that still resonates because it feeds into the ambitions of raising stars in politics, as they tend to associate themselves with the kind of yellow journalism that will do everything to ruin lives and in this case send an innocent man to his death.

Sadly, Mr. Leroy chose to direct the film telling his actors to emote, as he obviously had no way to reining some of the performances. What comes across in the screen is uneven acting, in general. An excellent actor like Claude Rains' account of his character, the evil D.A., Andy Griffin, goes for histrionics, instead of having him play the part as a sly and suave man who will stop at nothing to get what he wants. Maybe it was the style Mr. Leroy wanted to convey, but for today's viewers, this looks a bit too intense.

Then there is the accused man, Professor Hale. As played by Edward Norris, we see a man that knowing he is innocent, accepts his fate without rebelling, or giving an impression that he will do anything to prove he is the wrong man. Or perhaps it was the filmmakers intention to give the film that tone of despair, as it's obvious this man is doomed from the beginning. He is the victim of circumstantial evidence that is piled against him by the power of the so called newspapers in town that are controlled by Griffin, intent in calling the attention to the fact Hale is a Northener, therefore, an enemy.

The acting, in general, with a few exceptions, is pathetic, that is, by today's more sophisticated tastes. It doesn't make much sense to see an Elisha Cook Jr., with a terrible Southern accent, who appears to be a closet case, cast as the murdered girl's boyfriend.

The only welcome sight is a young and still raw Lana Turner in her screen first appearance. This film is worth watching only to see Ms. Turner walking from the parade site to the college. No wonder she was dubbed "The sweater girl".

They Won't Forget is Totally Unforgettable ****

[edwagreen · 10/10 · 14 November 2009]

Outstanding film really about that happened in Atlanta, Georgia, circa 1913, the killing of Mary Phagan by a Jewish factory worker or owner. Prejudice came into play here and the worker was ultimately lynched by a mob.

The aspect of anti-Semitism is eliminated from this excellent film; instead, we focus on the biases of the south. The crime was even committed on Confederate Veterans Day.

You will never recognize Lana Turner, the young college student, murdered in a college university building. While Turner's appearance is brief, she was somewhat memorable here.

As always, Claude Rains steals the show as an ambitious attorney, who will use this case as the prosecutor, to further his political career. Allyn Joslyn is equally excellent as the reporter,anxious for a major news story. When he gets it, he stirs the feelings of the people by his writing and his actions.

The acting by the entire cast is top-notch. Prejudice, stupidity and utter hatred was never depicted better here.

We never know who the true killer was, but we are given a plethora of suspects. Too bad that the jury didn't see it that way. This is definitely a film of rare social conscience.

Who killed Lana Turner? Someone should have knoicked off Claude Rains.

[dstanwyck · 7/10 · 8 April 2023]

One person. Not the mob who ruled, incited by Claude Rains as the bombastic lawyer, who indifferently, save for his unquenchable desire for power, tricked his way through the trial. It was Lana's first film and she was pretty good, considering she never developed any further. Except for the end of her sentences, she had a good enough southern accent and didn't even use her baby voice. The subsidiary characters were played well - Gloria Dickson (killed in a fire in her home in the mid 1940's) was always easy to watch, playing the feisty blonde in most of her films; Allyn Joslyn, added grand flavor to any role he undertook; Otto Kruger, kindly or unkindly in his roles; Elisha Cook, Jr., devious and squirmy as ever. The only disappointment - STRONG disappointment - was, of all people, Claude Rains. I've never seen him do anything in which he didn't excel. His character was a creepy liar here, not unlike the ex-president of these United States (ha!), which in and of itself would have been fine, had he played it well. Overdone and overwrought, a ham sandwich without any bread and several side orders of all forms of pig. Great actor. But not in this film.

great courthouse drama

[RanchoTuVu · 10/10 · 7 April 2005]

A stunning courtroom drama set in a small southern town about a northerner working as an instructor at a small local business college accused of the murder of a local girl who was one of his students. With racial and religious overtones, and a terrific performance by Claude Rains as a politically motivated prosecutor. The courtroom scenes are some of the best ever seen on film, with excellent editing and drama that reaches a feverish momentum. Knowing the fate that awaits the accused adds even more gravity to the film. Similar to LeRoy's earlier film, I am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, both slam southern justice and have unforgettable endings.

VERY TOPICAL BUT ITS HAMMINESS IS A DEFICIT...!

[masonfisk · 6/10 · 19 October 2023]

A 1937 film from director Mervyn LeRoy (Little Caesar/Quo Vadis) dealing w/the murder of a young student. It's Confederate Memorial Day in a small town & the town is all a-bustle w/a parade & throngs of people who've come out to see it. At some point a woman, Lana Turner, is seen entering a business school building by its custodian who later turns away a suitor looking for her since at that point the school has been closed. When no one can confirm Turner's whereabouts, a search is made in the school where her body is discovered dumped down an elevator shaft. From there a circus of attention commences to find the culprit w/a reporter hounding any leads he can find & the district attorney, played by Claude Rains sporting an unwieldy Southern accent, wanting to get a political boost to his career by trying this case feels his suspect, Turner's teacher, Edward Norris, is his man even though the majority of the evidence is circumstantial. W/Norris' wife, Gloria Dickson, standing by his side, the trial commences w/Norris being railroaded toward a conviction (they wanted the death penalty but he ends up getting life) w/a tragic turn of events occurring as Norris is being transported to jail. Ahead of its time to be sure w/its depiction of mob rule & absolutism on its mind, it suffers from the ham acting on display, Rains being a prime example, which by the time The Ox-Bow Incident came around in 1943, all the elements of this story would be better realized. Also of note because I would assume this was a pre-code film, a shot of Turner wearing the tightest of dresses walking the street went by w/o a batting of a censor's eye. Also starring consummate character actor Elisha Cook, Jr as a witness.

The viewer won't forget either

[TheLittleSongbird · 9/10 · 4 November 2018]

There have been a number of examples of great courtroom dramas on films, primary, and perhaps slightly clichéd to mention for some, examples being 'To Kill a Mockingbird', 'Witness for the Prosecution' and 'Anatomy of a Murder'. Have liked and respected various films of the always competent Mervyn LeRoy, especially 'Random Harvest', 'Waterloo Bridge' and 'Gold Diggers of 1933', and have always found Claude Rains a fine actor.

While maybe not quite one of the all-time greats or as great as the above, 'They Won't Forget' is a powerful and not easy to forget film that deserves far more credit and exposure. Have seen quite a number of very good to outstanding films recently and throughout my time as a reviewer here that are criminally underseen and under-appreciated, and it makes me sad to see that treatment when there are far inferior, and in some cases not good, films that make a lot of money and far more accessible in availability regardless of whether they're good or not.

Sure, 'They Won't Forget' is not the most visually beautiful, although it is well shot, or evocative film in the world and occasionally the content is hammered home too much, but the film was so searingly powerful and stirred so many emotions in me that they were not major issues and more like nit-picks.

LeRoy's direction, as it rightly should be, is no-nonsense and he keeps the storytelling tight and concise. Every scene is taut and important, with a good deal of meat, and there is no fat and no padding, nothing needed to be trimmed. 'They Won't Forget' is never dull and there is never once any difficulty with following or understanding it, didn't ever find myself confused. The dialogue is crisp and thoughtful.

Also really admired how it contained very gritty and heavy themes, ones quite daring to portray back then, and handled them in a very realistic and searing fashion. There is a lot of suspense, a lot of tension and a lot of poignancy, and it appropriately made me cry and angry. Worthy of much admiration is the ending, that the film refused to end too tidily or patly, which would have struck a false chord and juxtaposed too much, and instead ended grimly and unrelentingly without any signs of feeling tacked on or ruined by studio interference. A lot of memorable scenes, but particularly notable examples are Gloria Dickson's final speech, which gave me chills, and Lana Turner on the side-walk.

Have no issues with the acting, helped by the writing and that they have compellingly real characters that don't irritate or feel underdeveloped with clear and understandable motivations. Rains' performance has divided opinions and although it is not one of his most subtle performances certainly it is a very commanding and riveting performance all the same. Edward Norris gives one of the better performances for any defendant in a film courtroom drama for me, and Otto Kruger and Elisha Cook Jr do well against type. Lana Turner makes a promising film debut, even if her role is not large (but crucial). Dickson makes the most impression, especially in her final speech where her delivery was chilling and moving.

In conclusion, great and overlooked film. 9/10 Bethany Cox

I hope I forget.

[jagaleigh · 1/10 · 26 August 2003]

I adore classic movies, but this one was just stupid. It had the worst cast of actors ever, it was badly written, and most of the time I laughed because I thought it was a joke.

A prosecuting attorney referred to evidence as "circumstantial" while trying to argue that the defendant was guilty. That is only one example of this film's stupidity. The defendants wife was just annoying by the end of the movie.

I'm sorry, I know many folks like this film. I tried to as well but I just couldn't.

Maybe it's just me. *shrugs*

Frankly speaking

[marcslope · 2 November 2004]

It begins with a disclaimer that all characters are entirely fictitious, etc. etc., and cites as source material a novel, but you can't fool us: It's the Leo Frank trial of 1915, updated to the then-present-day South and with Frank's Judaism carefully removed. Other than that, the details are surprisingly close to the actual trial, and the downbeat ending chillingly mirrors reality. Warner Brothers, known in the 1930s as the socially conscious studio, had a message to flog, and in this case it goes a bit overboard: No character has more than one dimension, and even that excellent actor Claude Rains, as the DA, snarls and rolls his eyes and gesticulates wildly, overdoing the blind ambition bit. But for its day it's a pretty brave and out-there indictment against mob violence, bigotry, and sensationalism, particularly the latter. Indeed, the message one takes from it today is that the media hasn't really grown worse in the intervening years -- there's just more of it.