The People Against O'Hara

Some weeks back, Noir Alley ran the movie The People Against O'Hara. I hadn't done a review of it before, so I decided to DVR it and watch it to do that review.

The movie starts off with a couple of people coming out of a diner one night, and on the steps of a house across the way they see a murder being committed! Police run the plates on the car, which belongs to one Johnny O'Har (James Arness), so he's the natural person to ask his whereabouts. The other is Johnny's erstwhile friend Frank Korvac (William Campbell), whose prints are found in the car. Johnny says the car was stolen, but Frank is willing to take a plea deal in exchange for putting the finger on Johnny.

The O'Haras only know one lawyer, James Curtayne (Spencer Tracy). He used to be a big-time lawyer, but he turned to drink, and had to give up showy defense law in exchange for the sort of cheap transactional law that pays the bills. They turn to him for help, and he's reluctant because he doesn't think he's up to the stress any more, having given up alcohol. His adult daughter Ginny (Diana Lynn) also doesn't want him to take the case, because she knows he'll turn to drink if he does. As it is, she's put her life on hold for him, not marrying her fiancé (Richard Anderson), who is even more resentful of Dad than she is.

Still, Curtayne eventually does decide to take the case, realizing that perhaps he shouldn't have. He's got a particularly unhelpful client. Johnny claims that at the time of the alleged murder, he was checking up on some of the fish tanks at the fish market where he works for Knuckles (Eduardo Ciannelli), the Mob boss who runs the entire fish market. But a cursory inspection shows this to be complete balderdash. Obviously, Johnny is lying to protect somebody, but who?

If only he could find a witness. Ah, there is that witness mentioned at the beginning, who turns out to be a Swedish sailor, Sven Norson (Jay C. Flippen). Curtayne, in a profoundly stupid move, decides to bribe the guy to say he didn't see Johnny! Not only is it a bribe, but Curtayne leaves a paper trail by writing a check to a foreigner who probably doesn't even have a bank account in the States.

After some more investigation, Curtayne finally finds an angle to break the case open, and possibly redeem himself. But it's also going to put him at some personal danger....

Even though I know The People Against O'Hara wasn't the first noir the studio released -- and they actually did release a couple of good ones in Act of Violence and the slightly less noirish The Bribe and The Asphalt Jungle, this one plays out like you'd expect if MGM used all its glitz to make a noir. The idea is good, but everything seems a bit too neat and tidy. Tracy gives a very good performance as always; Pat O'Brien is underused as a police detective; and Arness and Campbell both show promise early in their careers. But the script feels a bit perfunctory and flat.

Overall, The People Against O'Hara isn't a bad movie by any stretch of the imagination. It's just that compared to other noirs, and other stuff Spencer Tracy did in his career, there's so much out that that's better. The People Against O'Hara is available on DVD courtesy of the Warner Archive should you wish to watch it.