The Judge (1949)

Martin Strong (Milburn Stone), prominent criminal attorney, becomes conscience-stricken when his is forced to come to the defense of an insane killer whom he had freed from a similar charge a year earlier. Goaded by his scheming wife, Lucille (Katherine deMille),who is in love with Dr. James Anderson (Stanley Waxman), the county police psychiatrist, Strang finally goes off the deep end when he realizes his career has become a king-size failure. In a dual plan to seek revenge for his wife's infidelity and betrayal, he writes a will leaving his fortune to the families who have been wronged by the guilty criminals he has aided. His plan is changed when he accidently becomes a witness to a crime committed by a stranger, William Jackson (Paul Guilfoyle). Certain legal aspects of the murder appeal to Strang's warped mind, and he comes to the defense of Jackson, and secures his temporary freedom by a clever legal trick. Trying to prove to himself whether he has been right or wrong in freeing guilty criminals, Strang plays on Jackson to the point where his plan backfires and he is murdered by Jackson. Evidence planted earlier by Strang places Dr. Anderson and Lucille under suspicion of his murder, and they are arrested.