The People Against O'Hara

Spencer Tracy's only venture into the noir genre finds him playing James P. Curtayne, an alcoholic criminal lawyer who is living with daughter Diana Lynn. She's essentially put her life on hold to take care of her father.

Friends from his old neighborhood ask him to defend their son, James Arness, who is being charged with a homicide during the course of a what we would now call a home invasion.

Tracy's not up to it, he's past his prime and unable to break down the perjured testimony of William Campbell who says Arness was the trigger man in the crime. He's got a sharp District Attorney in John Hodiak going against him. And he's got a client who's lying about his real whereabouts to shield someone else.

When the verdict of guilty is read against Arness in The People Against O'Hara it should be over. But not quite.

I liked John Hodiak as the District Attorney. He's good in anything he does and his role here is as an honest lawyer who's more interested in finding out the truth than scoring another prosecutorial notch on his belt. That in itself is very refreshing.

Given Spencer Tracy's own alcholism this must have been a part way too close to home for him. But he also is determined to serve his client to the best of his abilities which are sharply impaired when he makes a bad error in judgment in bribing witness Jay C. Flippen. Usually Flippen plays upright characters so this portrayal of a witness willing to sell his testimony to the highest bidder is against type and good.

Other good performances of note are Eduardo Ciannelli as the mob boss of the Fulton Fish Market, Pat O'Brien as Tracy's long time friend and homicide cop, and in a bit role in the end Ann Doran as a policewoman who puts herself on the line in the final confrontation scene.

Both Tracy and Hodiak in this film are two of the best portrayals of the legal profession on the screen. Even Tracy's ethical lapses are done with the best of intentions.

The People Against O'Hara is a great example of film noir at it's best and one of the screen's finest players in his only venture in noir.

The People Against O'Hara is a slightly offbeat film to have come out in 1951. It's both a crime picture and a fairly realistic study of alcoholism. The photography is by noir tyro John Alton, and in many of its night-time and shadowy scenes the movie looks like a thriller, which it really isn't. Director John Sturges was an up and comer at the MGM of this time, and the film was one of the earlier shots at A level film-making. The cast,--Spencer Tracy, Diana Lynn, Pat O'Brien, John Hodiak--are all fine.

I can't say that the script is any great shakes, but it gets the job done. The story goes off in several directions, as it deals with everything from father-daughter love to gangsters. I like the film more than most people and think that had the script been tidied up it might have been a great movie. There are some splendid moments, and one in the courtroom in particular stands out, when a young thug delivers such a double-talking testimony that lawyer Tracy almost has a nervous breakdown while questioning him. The kid senses that Tracy is vulnerable and keeps on twisting his words deliberately, and Tracy goes for the bait. It's a tough scene to watch, alternately sad, realistic and infuriating.

Tracy plays his role as a recovering alcoholic with sincerity and a conspicuous absence of sentiment. This man is not a saint and never was. Even when clean and sober he's a far cry from perfect, and he always will be.

Spencer Tracy,(James P. Curtayne), plays a lawyer who wants to get away from Criminal Law and go into Civil suits with not very much pressure, because he has a drinking problem. Jim Curtayne's daughter,(Diana Lynn),(Virginia,Ginny,Curtayne) is staying with her father and keeping an eye on him for at least two years, in order to keep him away from the booze. James Curtayne soon gets involved with a family he has known all his life and decides to help them when their son gets involved with a murder. John Hodiak,(Louis Barra) is the Defense Attorney and gives James Curtayne a hard time in the court room. Pat O'Brien,(Detective Vincent Ricks) is an old friend of James Curtayne and tries to help him stay focused on his law case and does give him some important leads. There are many twists and turns in this crime drama and Spencer Tracy gives one of his best performances in this Classic 1951 film.

Though I saw this as part of a noir festival at the Music Box Theatre in Chicago, "The People Against O'Hara" doesn't feel like much of a noir. There are bookend scenes drenched in noirish atmosphere, but other than that this is a straight up courtroom drama that finds Spencer Tracy defending a man accused of murder who has an alibi but is reluctant to share it for fear that it will endanger his life. It's a slick film, anchored by Tracy's gravelly resolve.

The film is a bit refreshing in its unpredictability, especially where Tracy's character is concerned. You might think that Tracy, being Tracy, will eventually triumph in the courtroom, perhaps with a snag or two along the way. But that doesn't happen. He's an alcoholic, you see, and his disease gets in his way. He botches the defense and loses the case, and still redeems the accused but in a way we're not expecting. The movie's treatment of alcoholism indeed is one of the things that sets it apart as a memorable little product of 1951, and in fact I think it's more notable for that than it is as an addition to the noir canon.

Grade: B+

Spencer Tracy plays a seasoned attorney with his work cut out for him defending a young man in a murder trial. In some ways a routine courtroom drama, but it goes beyond that. Tracy is terrific, doing his usual crusty cynic bit but that's what we love him for. The role has some depth to it, as the character is a struggling alcoholic who makes a mistake in a moment of weakness. The rest of the cast doesn't match his performance, although John Hodiak is pretty good as the opposing counsel. The plot takes some interesting turns and goes into true noir territory in the third act. And cinematography by John Alton... need I say more? Those brilliant patches of light amidst deep, deep shadows look fantastic as always. I'll be honest, courtroom movies don't generally excite me, but this one is a cut above the usual fare.