The Defense Rests backdrop
The Defense Rests

The Defense Rests

HE DOUBLE CROSSED JUSTICE...UNTIL LOVE DOUBLE CROSSED HIM!!

7.0 / 1019341h 10m

Synopsis

A sleazy lawyer's female assistant sets out to end his cheating ways.

Genre: Drama, Crime

Status: Released

Director: Lambert Hillyer

Website:

Main Cast

Jack Holt

Jack Holt

Matthew Mitchell

Jean Arthur

Jean Arthur

Joan Hayes

Nat Pendleton

Nat Pendleton

Rocky

Arthur Hohl

Arthur Hohl

James Randolph

Raymond Walburn

Raymond Walburn

Austin

Harold Huber

Harold Huber

Castro

Robert Gleckler

Robert Gleckler

Lou Gentry

Sarah Padden

Sarah Padden

Mrs. Evans

Shirley Grey

Shirley Grey

Mabel Wilson

Donald Meek

Donald Meek

Fogg

User Reviews

CinemaSerf

"Joan Hayes" (Jean Arthur) is employed by hotshot criminal lawyer "Mitchell" (Jack Holt) just as he heads to court for what we are sure will be his 38th straight victory. Following a kidnapping, though, "Mrs Evans" (Sarah Padden) comes to visit and as her boss is busy, she is seen by the new and keen "Joan" who begins to piece two and two together and conclude that her butter-wouldn't-melt employer is maybe not quite the shining light he purports to be. Armed with some damning evidence, she confronts him - but events elsewhere overtake their stand-off and soon the fate of a man facing the chair is front and centre of the story. That story is a bit more substantial than many of these standard afternoon features with a rather beefier part for Arthur and a decent chemistry between the two as things get messy and dangerous. Add a couple of mob heavies and maybe just a hint of integrity and this makes for quite an enjoyable seventy minutes of crime-noir.