# Counsel for Crime

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{{short description|1937 film by John Brahm}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=February 2026}}
{{Infobox film
| name           = Counsel for Crime
| image          = Counsel for Crime film poster.jpg
 
| alt            = 
| caption        = Theatrical release poster
| director       = [John Brahm](/source/John_Brahm)
| producer       = [Wallace MacDonald](/source/Wallace_MacDonald)
| screenplay     = [Fred Niblo, Jr.](/source/Fred_Niblo%2C_Jr.)<br/>[Grace Neville](/source/Grace_Neville_(screenwriter))<br/>[Lee Loeb](/source/Lee_Loeb)<br/>[Harold Buchman](/source/Harold_Buchman)
| based_on       = a story by<br/>[Harold Shumate](/source/Harold_Shumate)
| narrator       = 
| starring       = [Otto Kruger](/source/Otto_Kruger)<br/>[Douglass Montgomery](/source/Douglass_Montgomery)<br/>[Jacqueline Wells](/source/Jacqueline_Wells)
| music          = [Morris Stoloff](/source/Morris_Stoloff)
| cinematography = [Henry Freulich](/source/Henry_Freulich)
| editing        = [Otto Meyer](/source/Otto_Meyer_(film_editor))
| distributor    = [Columbia Pictures](/source/Columbia_Pictures)
| released       = {{Film date|1937|10|14|United States}}
| runtime        = 61 minutes
| country        = United States
| language       = English
| budget         = 
| gross          = 
}}
'''''Counsel for Crime''''' is a 1937 American  [crime film](/source/crime_film) directed by [John Brahm](/source/John_Brahm) starring [Otto Kruger](/source/Otto_Kruger), [Douglass Montgomery](/source/Douglass_Montgomery) and [Jacqueline Wells](/source/Jacqueline_Wells).<ref>{{AFI film|id=8138|title=Counsel for Crime}}</ref>

==Plot==
Following his graduation from [law school](/source/law_school), Senator Robert Maddox's (Hall) adopted son Paul (Montgomery) is offered a job at Bill Mellon's (Kruger) law firm. Mellon, an unscrupulous [criminal law](/source/criminal_law)yer, is actually Paul's real father, but he keeps the fact a secret from him. When Paul discovers Mellon's corruption, he quits and lands a job as [assistant district attorney](/source/assistant_district_attorney).

Soon after taking the position, Paul spearheads a state investigation into [legal malpractice](/source/legal_malpractice). This worries Mellon and prompts him to assign a criminal to implicate those investigating him in a scandal. When the criminal learns about Paul's birth, he is accidentally shot by Mellon in an effort to conceal the information. Paul successfully prosecutes his own father, who is convicted of [second-degree murder](/source/second-degree_murder) because he refuses to discuss the content of the papers over which he and Mitchell were struggling, thus protecting Paul and his mother.

==Cast==
* [Otto Kruger](/source/Otto_Kruger) as Bill Mellon 
* [Douglass Montgomery](/source/Douglass_Montgomery) as Paul Maddox 
* [Jacqueline Wells](/source/Julie_Bishop_(actress)) as Ann McIntyre 
* [Thurston Hall](/source/Thurston_Hall) as Senator Robert Maddox 
* [Nana Bryant](/source/Nana_Bryant) as Mrs. Maddox 
* [Gene Morgan](/source/Gene_Morgan) as Friday 
* [Marc Lawrence](/source/Marc_Lawrence) as Edwin Mitchell 
* [Robert Warwick](/source/Robert_Warwick) as Asa Stewart 
* [Stanley Fields](/source/Stanley_Fields_(actor)) as George Evans

==References==
{{reflist}}

==External links==
* {{IMDb title|id=0028743|title=Counsel for Crime}}
* {{TCMDb title|id=71555|title=Counsel for Crime}}

{{John Brahm}}

Category:1937 films
Category:1937 crime drama films
Category:American crime drama films
Category:American black-and-white films
Category:Columbia Pictures films
Category:1937 English-language films
Category:Films directed by John Brahm
Category:1937 American films
Category:English-language crime drama films

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Counsel for Crime](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counsel_for_Crime) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Counsel_for_Crime?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.