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repaired and Cooke asks urgently about the nearest drugstore. Back on the road, Cathy collapses in the car. Cooke can stand it no more. He deliberately drives off an embankment, not caring if he is also killed. He survives, confesses that he crashed on purpose, and in keeping with his philosophy, demands to be prosecuted for murder.
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Cathy has an inoperable brain tumor and will suffer increasingly until it kills her. Cooke agrees, rather than spoiling her remaining days, to keep the information secret. The doctor gives him a bottle of pills called
Demarine for pain relief, strongly warning him about the maximum dosage, and a prescription for more.
294:
Cooke's daughter Ellie complains to her mother Cathy about how unyielding her father can be; Cathy insists that he is a loving husband. Anyway, it is their 20th wedding anniversary and she is planning to celebrate with friends at their house. Cooke does not know that Ellie (herself a law student) and
310:
At Ellie's request, Douglas agrees to defend Cooke. He requests an autopsy in case Cathy had actually died from her illness before the crash. The finding is a surprise: she did die before the crash, but from a
Demarine overdose. Douglas shows that she had had the prescription filled before the drive
306:
Cathy, looking through their luggage for toiletries, accidentally discovers the doctor's written diagnosis and prescription. When Cooke returns to the room, she says she is feeling better but would like to return home. In the car, her symptoms return. They stop at a gas station to have a car problem
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The trial judge then dismisses the murder charge, but declares that Cooke knew very well that what he tried to do was wrong, and should consider himself morally guilty. Cooke agrees, and announces that in expiation, if allowed to remain a judge, he will now rule on the basis that similarly a person
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At the party, Cathy talks to Dr. Morrison, an expert neurologist and friend of the family, about her intermittent symptoms of weakness and headaches. At his office, Morrison performs a series of tests and then consults other experts. Rather than tell her the truth, Morrison contacts her husband.
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Cooke, who previously said he was too busy with cases to take Cathy on a second honeymoon as she wished, now agrees to go at once. But her condition worsens rapidly, including excruciatingly painful headaches. Cooke gives her a dose of
Demarine, pretending it is aspirin. While he is calling the
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doctor from a pay phone so Cathy will not hear, a dog is run over in the street, and a police officer ends its suffering with a gunshot. Cooke, evidently feeling disgust at similar thoughts of his own, discards the remaining pills.
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Calvin Cooke, a principled but stubborn judge, presides over a murder case in which lawyer David
Douglas is unsuccessful in proving that his client's state of mind was a mitigating factor.
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Douglas are romantically involved until
Douglas arrives during the party to take her on a date. Cooke and Douglas exchange sharp words of disagreement about their philosophies of the law.
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can be legally guilty but morally innocent—just what
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set (which later received that name for having been prominently featured in
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This article is about the 1948 US film. For the crime, see
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256:. It was based on a novel by the Austrian writer
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558:. London: A. Zwemmer Limited. p. 85.
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554:Higham, Charles; Greenberg, Joel (1968).
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530:"Festival de Cannes: An Act of Murder"
7:
886:Films scored by Daniele Amfitheatrof
14:
871:Films directed by Michael Gordon
171:Universal International Pictures
161:Universal International Pictures
866:Films based on Austrian novels
856:American black-and-white films
741:I Can Get It for You Wholesale
1:
661:Boston Blackie Goes Hollywood
439:David Leonard as Doctor Levi
901:English-language crime films
846:1940s English-language films
508:AFI Catalog of Feature Films
80:Die Mühle der Gerechtigkeit
917:
749:The Secret of Convict Lake
701:Another Part of the Forest
268:. It is also known by the
264:. It was entered into the
184:December 5, 1948
18:
876:Films set in Pennsylvania
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448:Olga Fabian as Mrs. Novak
352:as Doctor Walter Morrison
266:1949 Cannes Film Festival
39:
881:Universal Pictures films
556:Hollywood in the Forties
484:backlot for this film.
274:Live Today for Tomorrow
861:Films about euthanasia
805:Texas Across the River
23:. For other uses, see
328:as Judge Calvin Cooke
891:1940s American films
851:American crime films
797:A Very Special Favor
445:as Doctor McDermott
192: (New York City)
146:Daniele Amfitheatrof
896:Films about lawyers
813:How Do I Love Thee?
677:One Dangerous Night
534:festival-cannes.com
480:) was built on the
436:as Mrs. McGuinness
370:as Judge Jim Wilder
232:is a 1948 American
789:Move Over, Darling
733:Cyrano de Bergerac
647:Films directed by
586:. McFarland, 1994.
477:Back to the Future
412:as Doctor Standish
270:alternative titles
262:Universal Pictures
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781:For Love or Money
765:Portrait in Black
669:Underground Agent
565:978-0-498-06928-4
482:Universal Studios
472:Courthouse Square
452:Thomas E. Jackson
364:as Charles Dayton
338:Florence Eldridge
250:Florence Eldridge
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112:Florence Eldridge
66:Michael Blankfort
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841:1948 crime films
717:The Lady Gambles
709:An Act of Murder
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254:Geraldine Brooks
229:An Act of Murder
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537:. Retrieved
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458:Frank Darien
424:as Mr. Hart
422:Harry Hayden
410:Edward Earle
404:Harry Harvey
386:Mary Servoss
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258:Ernst Lothar
236:directed by
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201:Running time
177:Release date
136:Ralph Dawson
84:Ernst Lothar
79:
29:
757:Pillow Talk
434:Renie Riano
428:Russ Conway
400:as Mr. Pope
368:Will Wright
90:Produced by
52:Directed by
46:Film poster
836:1948 films
830:Categories
539:January 7,
519:Fetrow p.3
488:References
466:Production
460:as Old Man
454:as Bailiff
394:as Pearson
392:Don Beddoe
205:91 minutes
188:1948-12-05
153:Production
62:Written by
430:as Wilson
234:film noir
132:Edited by
16:1948 film
443:Ray Teal
388:as Julia
218:Language
142:Music by
126:Hal Mohr
100:Starring
76:Based on
693:The Web
505:at the
221:English
210:Country
186: (
155:company
816:(1970)
808:(1966)
800:(1965)
792:(1963)
784:(1963)
776:(1962)
768:(1960)
760:(1959)
752:(1951)
744:(1951)
736:(1950)
728:(1950)
720:(1949)
712:(1948)
704:(1948)
696:(1947)
688:(1943)
680:(1943)
672:(1942)
664:(1942)
562:
21:Murder
603:IMDb
560:ISBN
541:2009
470:The
319:Cast
287:Plot
277:and
252:and
612:TCM
610:on
601:at
82:by
832::
532:.
283:.
248:,
244:,
640:e
633:t
626:v
568:.
543:.
190:)
27:.
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