Self-important, over-dramatic, uninspired.

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

Following his sacking from MGM in 1934, motormouth comedian Lee Tracy struck a three-picture deal with Columbia, before making a heap of low-budget star vehicles over at RKO. Though the RKO movies vary in quality, they do acknowledge Tracy's standing as a uniquely gifted, fast-talking leading man near the peak of his powers, and are largely tailored to his talents.One such RKO film is Criminal Lawyer (Christy Cabanne, 1937). It's in many ways a standard Tracy film and, as such, an absolute riot. Taking the basic set-up of The Nuisance - Tracy is a shyster whose success in the courtroom is based more on theatrics and tricks than conventional legal practice - the writers also toss in the gangster subplots familiar from Blessed Event and Advice to the Lovelorn. The result is very similar to the William Powell movie Lawyer Man, though bizarrely that 1932 film chose not to show any of the courtroom sequences to which it frequently referred.The plot here has Tracy's barrister-come-showman becoming DA and trying to shake off his nefarious former sponsor. Hilariously, the tagline of the film gives away its entire storyline. What does the poster think it is - Halliwell's? Without telling you exactly what happens, I'll just say that as Tracy spars with hateful hood Eduardo Ciannelli, a woman (Margot Grahame) enters the picture, becoming Tracy's cook, secretary and confidante. That makes his sometime girlfriend (Betty Lawford) very jealous, setting up a slightly melodramatic final third that isn't as strong as the rest of the picture.Erik Rhodes provides plenty of comic support playing his patented amorous Italian (as seen in The Gay Divorcée, Top Hat and The Smartest Girl in the World), but as usual it's Tracy's show. Just seeing him on screen makes me happy, since he's never tired, or lacklustre, or sub-par. He's always just magnificently, spectacularly Tracy-ish. When the script is sharp, he's impossibly good, but he also elevates so-so sequences. His interrogation of a woman accused of murder recalls his pyrotechnics in Blessed Event, talking Allen Jenkins through a trip to the electric chair, and he imbues the climactic scene with an improbable credibility as well as a compulsive watchability. My 21st Tracy film is flawed, certainly, but yet another must for fans of the actor.

I have to say I was disappointed to see only criticism of this movie! I only came upon it by chance but this short movie was intriguing to me!I disagree that the plot was "subpar" & thought the acting was adequate & the plot reasonably well constructed! This is after all, over 70 years old!!! How could it hope to compete with multi-million dollar modern productions??? But it presents the evolution of the clever but unprincipled lawyer who switches allegiances without justice! It asks ethical questions ahead of its times!!! Until the lawyer finds in his cleverness, his own demise is imminent!Then swings the attack for a riveting conclusion! It doesn't answer all the questions it prompts!But I don't think that was its purpose! I was impressed by "Criminal Lawyer" & I believe it has aged well! If only I could say that for some who consider themselves wise because they are old in years!!!

An ambitious, dynamic district attorney(Lee Tracy) is called upon to prosecute the mob boss(Eduardo Ciannelli)responsible for his lofty appointment. Most of the courtroom scenes are hard hitting and emotionally draining, other wise the story line is quite hackneyed and obvious. Other cast members of note are:Betty Lawford, Margot Grahame and Frank M. Thomas.Not exactly film-noir and truthfully a subpar crime flick.

What a shame that the great Lee Tracy was toiling in low rent pictures like this when he should've been a big star in his very prime at this stage in his career. There are glimpses of his motor-mouthed talent in the courtroom scenes and there is some electricity in his terse, mutually contemptuous confrontations with tight-lipped mob boss Eduardo Ciannelli, but the script is subpar and the editing (particularly during the climax) is downright dreadful. The film has no grab or soul and Tracy's moral reversal rings terribly false.