Counsellor-at-Law

(William Wyler, US 1933, 82 min., 35mm)

William Wyler. In this fast-talking pre-Code melodrama, Wyler follows a day in the life of George Simon (John Barrymore), a successful lawyer who is trying to balance his career by helping the people from his neighborhood while taking high-paying sensationalist cases to pay the bills. After he successfully defends an accused murderer, he takes the case of a young communist who has been beaten by the police, as a favor to a childhood neighbor, but his career may be at risk as a previous case is called into question. Written by prolific playwright Elmer Rice from his own play, the film challenged Wyler’s camera movements to keep up with the action.