An Act of Murder

"Mercy or Murder? Can you condemn this man?"

Dec 17 1948 Approved 1h 31m
Crime, Drama, Film-Noir

A man kills his terminally ill wife to prevent her further suffering.

Plot

Judge Cooke, good husband and father, is known in court as Old Man Maximum. Cooke's daughter loves defender Dave Douglas, who hates Cooke's attitude toward defendants. Cooke's life shatters when he learns his wife has terminal brain cancer; as her pain worsens, he begins to consider mercy-killing, but that would place him in the position of a defendant.

Written by

Ernst Lothar, Michael Blankfort, Robert Thoeren

Directed by

Michael Gordon

Production Countries

United States of America

Production Companies

Universal International Pictures

Languages

English

Awards

1 nomination

Scores
# of Votes
933
Average Rating
6.9 out of 10
Metascore
NA
Popularity
NA