Midnight (aka Call It Murder) (1934)

A jury foreman (O.P. Heggie) on a crime of passion murder case is a firm believer in following the letter of the law and convinces his fellow jurors to vote a first degree murder charge on a woman (Helen Flint) charged with murdering her lover. But on the night of her execution, murder comes closer to home and he is confronted with his own words. Based on the play by Paul and Claire Sifton and directed by Chester Erskine (THE EGG AND I). This drama doesn't bother to hide its theatrical origins but if you can excuse its static, you'll find a crude but engrossing movie about the hypocrisy of the sanctimonious. Those who view life not as gray but black and white but when they are placed in the precarious position of involvement in the very act they condemn, it soon changes to circumventing the very law they choose to uphold. The film isn't preachy at all, it just lets the story unveil and we get a sense of where it's going to end up but it hits its target. Humphrey Bogart has a supporting but pivotal role (eighth billed) but when the movie was re-released in 1949 under the title CALL IT MURDER, he was given top billing. With Sidney Fox, Henry Hull, Margaret Wycherly, Cora Witherspoon and Lynne Overman.