The Public Defender

The Public Defender

A powerful plea for justice. The scales weigh the balance-on one side "Justice for the Rich"-on the other side "Ignominy for the poor." On which side will it balance?

1917 · 60 min · Drama, Crime

When bank president Leslie Morrison dips into the till, he seeks to place the blame on bank clerk David Moulton by altering the figures in Moulton's books. He lays his plan carefully, but upon leaving the building late one night, Morrison falls into an elevator shaft and is killed. Moulton, the one man known to have been there, is charged with murder and tried by district attorney Robert Murdock. Unable to afford a competent defense, Moulton is convicted and sentenced to die in an electric chair. However, Mary Reed, a stenographer who loves Moulton, appeals as a last resort to the newly elected public defender, Arthur Nelson. Nelson investigates the case and discovers evidence on the very eve of the execution, evidence that will warrant a stay. Rescued from death in the nick of time, Moulton is granted a new trial under the supervision of the public defender and is found innocent.

Directed by Burton L. King · Written by Fred Rath

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Cast

Frank Keenan Robert Murdock
Alma Hanlon Mary Reed
Robert Edeson Arthur Nelson
John St. Polis David Moulton
Florence Short Rose Moulton
Louis Stern Leslie Morrison
Tex La Grove Walter Holmes
Harry Kingsley Arthur Stevens
Helen Conwell 'Queenie' La Mar
James E. Sullivan Father O'Malley
F.A. Cronin James Whalon
John O'Keefe John Hartley

Make it a double feature

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The Public Defender

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