A Fever in the Blood

A Fever in the Blood is a 1961 late noir or neo-noir film featuring a roster of Warner Bros. television contract players, often miscast according to the film's producer and screenwriter Roy Huggins in his Archive of American Television interview, about crooked political dealings.

Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. plays a judge and the rest of the cast includes Angie Dickinson, Jack Kelly, Don Ameche, Ray Danton, Herbert Marshall, Rhodes Reason, Robert Colbert, Carroll O'Connor (in his film debut), Parley Baer, and Saundra Edwards. The picture was directed by Vincent Sherman, with music by Ernest Gold, cinematography by J. Peverell Marley, and editing by William H. Ziegler.

Plot

A man murders a woman who rejects him, then creates a fire to make the death look accidental. The district attorney, Dan Callahan, on a hunting trip with Judge Leland Hoffman, is summoned back to the city to handle the murder investigation. Callahan and Hoffman both have political ambitions, eyeing the upcoming election for governor.

The high-profile nature of the murder case persuades Callahan that it could vault him to the governor's office if he prosecutes it himself. He personally arrests the prime suspect, Thornwall, a wealthy man with political connections whose wife is the victim.

Hoffman is assigned to be the judge in the case, which could impact his own political future. A senator, Alex Simon, informs both the judge and D.A. that he intends to pursue the governor's office himself, claiming he wishes to come home after serving in Washington, D.C., for many years. His wife, Cathy, was once romantically involved with Judge Hoffman, who is bribed with an appointment to the federal bench if he agrees to not oppose Simon for governor.

Callahan turns ruthless and vindictive in achieving his political aims, determined to win at any cost. His right-hand man unethically blurts on the witness stand that the defendant had once before threatened his wife. This evidence is inadmissible hearsay and the judge orders it stricken from the record, but the jury, armed with this knowledge, convicts the defendant of murder in the first degree.

The senator dies of a heart attack. Hoffman's guilty conscience forces him to go public with the revelation that Simon offered him a bribe. His career is ruined, but Cathy is proud of him for standing by his convictions.

A gardener who committed the murder flees town in a panic, is apprehended by police and confesses to the crime. When the gubernatorial convention fails to win Callahan a majority, Hoffman arrives and is swept up by the admiring crowd to the party's nomination.

Cast

Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. ... Judge Leland Hoffman
Angie Dickinson ... Cathy Simon
Jack Kelly ... Dan Callahan
Don Ameche ... Sen. Alex Simon
Ray Danton ... Clem Marker (lawyer)
Herbert Marshall ... Gov. Oliver Thornwall
Andra Martin ... Laura Mayberry
Jesse White ... Mickey Beers
Rhodes Reason ... Walter Thornwall
Robert Colbert ... Thomas J. Morely
Carroll O'Connor ... Matt Keenan
Parley Baer ... Charles 'Charlie' Bosworth
Saundra Edwards ... Lucy Callahan

External links

A Fever in the Blood in the Internet Movie Database