The People Against O'Hara is a 1951 film noir

Film noir

Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize cynical attitudes and sexual motivations. Hollywood's classic film noir period is generally regarded as extending from the early 1940s to the late 1950s...

 based on Eleazar Lipsky

Eleazar Lipsky

Eleazar Lipsky was a prosecutor, lawyer, novelist and playwright born in the Bronx, New York, USA. He wrote the novels that formed the basis of two very successful films, Kiss of Death and The People Against O'Hara...

's novel. The movie stars Spencer Tracy

Spencer Tracy

Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...

, Pat O'Brien

Pat O'Brien (actor)

Pat O’Brien was an American film actor with more than one hundred screen credits.-Early life:O’Brien was born William Joseph Patrick O’Brien to an Irish-American Catholic family in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He served as an altar boy at Gesu Church while growing up near 13th and Clybourn streets...

, and James Arness

James Arness

James King Arness was an American actor, best known for portraying Marshal Matt Dillon in the television series Gunsmoke for 20 years...

, and is directed by John Sturges

John Sturges

John Eliot Sturges was an American film director. His movies include Bad Day at Black Rock , Gunfight at the O.K. Corral , The Magnificent Seven , The Great Escape and Ice Station Zebra .-Career:He started his career in Hollywood as an editor in 1932...

, who also directed the The Great Escape

The Great Escape (film)

The Great Escape is a 1963 American film about an escape by Allied prisoners of war from a German POW camp during World War II, starring Steve McQueen, James Garner, and Richard Attenborough...

.

Plot

James Curtayne (Tracy) has retired from law, but he returns to defend John O'Hara (Arness) on a murder charge. Curtayne's drinking and rustiness result in O'Hara being found guilty, but Curtayne makes further efforts to prove him innocent.