The People Against O'Hara (1951)

Strictly average movie

Awesome Movie

if their story seems completely bonkers, almost like a feverish work of fiction, you ain't heard nothing yet.

The movie is made so realistic it has a lot of that WoW feeling at the right moments and never tooo over the top. the suspense is done so well and the emotion is felt. Very well put together with the music and all.

People Against O'Hara, The (1951) *** (out of 4) Part noir and part courtroom drama, this film isn't a complete success but it has enough going for it to make it worth viewing. In the film Spencer Tracy plays an alcoholic lawyer who decides to help a couple poor friends out by defending their son (James Arness) who has been accused of murder. The lawyer knows the kid is innocent but he can't get enough information on the streets as to who the real killer is so he must put his own life on the line to try and clear his client. Sturges and Tracy would re-team four years later on the masterpiece BAD DAY AT BLACK ROCK and while this film is no where near that one, this here at least offers up some fine performances and a terrific ending. I think the weakest aspect of the film was the actual court case. I'm not sure what it was but it really seemed like Sturges was struggling with how to build up any type of suspense during these scenes. The courtroom stuff just didn't contain enough suspense or anything overly interesting to make it work very well. I thought the director did a much better job with the personal demons battling Tracy as he's trying to avoid drinking but as the pressure builds he keeps wanting back at the bottle. Sturges handled these scenes extremely well including a heartbreaking and rather shattering one between Tracy and his daughter (Diana Lynn) as both of them break down and let their emotions show. It comes as no shock but Tracy is terrific as usual. He did a really good job with the role and the scenes with him battling the alcoholism were very well handled and you could tell Tracy was giving it his all. He suffered from drinking his entire life so I'm sure he put some of his own feelings into the role and they show. Pat O'Brien gets a pretty good bit as the Detective working the case and John Hodiak is very good as the D.A.. Lynn shines in her scenes including the unforgettable moment mentioned earlier and we also Eduardo Ciannelli playing a gangster. I really wasn't too impressed with Arness here who gets several scenes where he's suppose to be playing scared and frustrated yet I didn't believe either emotion. If you look quick you'll see Charles Bronson sitting around a diner table. While the courtroom stuff doesn't work too well the director makes up for this in the final fifteen-minutes where we get a masterfully directed sting sequence. Basically Tracy, the D.A. and the cops try to lure the real killers out and this is done with Tracy leading the way yet we never get to see him. It's filmed from the cops point-of-view as they listen to Tracy over a radio and the way this is done builds up a terrific amount of suspense and easily makes the film worth sitting through for.

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.

This is a tidy crime drama about a "retired" attorney(Spenser Tracy)dealing with his own unethical behavior. Well written and photographed. An apt group of players support the flawless Tracy: Pat O'Brien, John Hodiak, Regis Toomey, Diana Lynn and James Arness. Worth your attention.

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.