The Judge Steps Out (1949)

A Boston judge (Alexander Knox) has position, security and a lovely home on Beacon Hill. He also has a disagreeable wife (Frieda Inescort), a selfish daughter (Martha Hyer) and a nagging suspicion that somehow his life has gone terribly wrong. Directed by Boris Ingster (STRANGER ON THE THIRD FLOOR). A romantic comedy that turns very serious toward the end. I rather liked it but I hated its bourgeois values. Knox's judge finds happiness after ditching his family with the owner (Ann Sothern) of a truck stop diner in California. But this being middle class 1949, he must accept his responsibility to his family though they seem to be doing perfectly fine without him. But the conventional morality of the era demands he sacrifice his happiness for his "duty". With Florence Bates, George Tobias, H.B.. Warner and Sharyn Moffett.