This Could Only be Called Film-Noir in the Most Liberal of Definition, Despite, Once Again, a DVD Package that Claims it As Such. It has that 1950's Television Lighting where Everything is Glowing and Bright and that Decades Safe Presentation and Production that Screams "Assembly Line" in Every Scene.But it is a Good Courtroom Melodrama with a Strong Performance by Robinson and a Supporting Cast Playing Some Interesting, if Standard, Characters. Albert Dekker Seems to have Wandered In from Kiss Me Deadly (1955, a true Noir), Nina Foch is OK if Bland, and Jan Merlin as a Pistol Yielding Gunsel Stands Out.This is the Third Version of the Story and is Worth a Watch for Edward G. and for a Couple of Powerfully Violent Scenes, the first Murder, and a Bedroom Brawl Between Foch and Hugh Marlowe. The Rest is Pedestrian but Tolerable and Jayne Mansfield Makes Her Debut with a Scene or Two that Registers.Overall, Not Much and it has the Stiffness of a Retread, but there is Talent at Work Here with a Max Steiner Score and Some Salty Dialog, but the Film Seems Outdated and Comes Off as a Moderate Revisitation.

Edward G Robinson brings his great acting talents to be a top dog lawyer and his acting is excellent. The supporting cast includes Nina Foch, Ed Platt (later chief of control on Get Smart), and in a brief role DeForest Kelly (later Dr. McCoy on Star Trek). This Warner Brothers film is a remake of an earlier Warner film.Still, the retread works out nicely. Right from the beginning when Robinson railroads Kelly to the electric chair, Robinson is in top form. The cast is good, and the directing is solid to go with the acting. Overall, especially if your a Robinson fan, this is worth while to watch.Robinson seems just as well suited to play the over bearing and shady lawyer as he is to play a mobster.

After sending an innocent man to the electric chair, a district attorney's ambitious career plans are disrupted. The film is entertaining enough but has some silly moments, including a ridiculous finale. Robinson is fine as the tough attorney, a decent fellow who unwittingly becomes involved with the mob. Unfortunately, the supporting cast is not up to par. Foch in particular gives a weak performance as an associate of Robinson's. In only her third film, Mansfield is quite alluring as (what else?) a dumb blonde. There are three actors here who would gain fame on TV: Platt (Maxwell Smart's Chief), Corby (Grandma Walton), and Kelley (Dr. McCoy).

This innocuous black & white 1955 juristic crime melodrama is more entertaining than realistic. Edward G. Robinson plays a district attorney with political aspirations who sends the wrong man to the electric chair and never recovers from the experience. Clearly, the message here is that the death penalty is flawed. "Illegal" is the second remake of "The Mouthpiece" (1932) with Warren William originating the role of the aggressive district attorney that Robinson would play. The first remake was "The Man Who Talked Too Much" (1940) with George Brent and Brenda Marshall. Our ambitious protagonist, Victor Scott (Edward G. Robinson of "Little Caesar") turns into a lush and then recovers and goes to work for a crime syndicate boss. As it turns out, someone is acting as a pipeline out of the District Attorney's office, and D.A. Ralph Ford (Edward Platt of "Rebel Without a Cause") suspects that the guilty party may be none other than Ellen Miles (Nina Foch of "Prison Ship"), a woman who works in the office. It doesn't help matters that Ellen shot and killed her husband Ray Borden (Hugh Marlowe of "Birdman of Alcatraz") and accuses him of leaking information.Naturally, Ford believes that she is defaming the reputation of her murdered husband to keep herself from frying in the chair. Victor Scott (Edward G. Robinson of "Little Caesar") decides to defend Ellen because he put her through school and got her a job in the D.A.'s office. Scott is as shrewd as they come and doesn't mind stooping to pull a trick or two to keep his clients out of stir. The best scene involves a poisoning case that gets thrown out because Scott gulps some of the poison and survives. Of course, in a real situation, this desperate bid for victory would be challenged by somebody, but remember this is a movie. Our hero fends off too many questions and goes into hiding where a nurse and doctor are prepared to administer an antidote. Another good has Robinson confronting his successor in the D.A.'s Office and pointing out that every idea that Ford has is an idea that Scott has already had. Albert Dekker is satisfactory as a mobster chieftain and Jayne Mansfield makes her cinematic debut as one of the mobster's gals who answers the phone for him. Jan Merlin is terrific as a skull-faced gunsel who knocks off people for Dekker. The W.R. Burnett & James Webb screenplay contains several memorable lines of dialogue. "Desert Fury" director Lewis Allen keeps the action moving along rather nicely despite its formulaic plotting. "Waltons'" grandmother Ellen Corby plays Scott's secretary. Oh, yes, the poor schmuck who burns in the chair is none other than Deforest Kelly.