Andrew Morton (Humphrey Bogart) clawed his way out of the slums to complete night law school, got his start by practicing criminal law, and finally has worked his way into a respectable property law practice. Indeed, his blue-blooded bosses are about to make him a partner when a voice from the past — that of his old client Pretty Boy Romano — yanks him back to his personal and professional roots. Romano, a thug played by John Derek, lives by the motto that all of us can embrace: live fast, die young, and have a good looking corpse. Years ago, Morton’s office defended Romano’s father. Morton was busy and delegated the work to an associate who muffed it. Romano’s father went to prison where he died before Morton could help him. This disaster shoved Romano’s family into dire poverty and Romano himself into gangs and ultimately life as a career criminal. Morton always blamed himself. He spent years trying to atone for his mistake by helping Romano, both personally and professionally. Romano tries to go straight but after his wife’s suicide, he is accused of sticking up a bar and shooting and killing a policeman. Romano pleads with Morton to defend him and Morton just can’t turn him down, even though doing so costs him his cherished law firm partnership. Romano, of course, professes his innocence of the crime; Morton doesn’t know whether to believe him or not but he undertakes the defense. The whole sad history of the relationship between Morton and Romano and his family is developed during a series of flashbacks during Morton’s opening statement.
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