1933·Crime·1h 11m
7.1
★
The coquettish granddaughter of a respected small-town judge is stranded at a bootleggers’ hide-out, subjected to an act of nightmarish sexual violence, and plunged into a criminal underworld that threatens to swallow her up completely.
Directed by Stephen Roberts
bootlegger
rape
self-defense
rape victim
courtroom
pre-code
southern belle
murder trial
social scandal
county judge
concealing the truth
Trailer
IMDB
N/A
Cast
Miriam Hopkins
Temple Drake
William Gargan
Stephen Benbow
Jack La Rue
Trigger
Florence Eldridge
Ruby Lemarr
Guy Standing
Judge Drake
Irving Pichel
Lee Goodwin
Jobyna Howland
Miss Reba
William Collier Jr.
Toddy Gowan
Elizabeth Patterson
Aunt Jennie
James Pier Mason
Van
Louise Beavers
Minnie
Oscar Apfel
District Attorney (uncredited)
Crew
Oliver H.P. Garrett
Screenplay
Karl Struss
Director of Photography
William Faulkner
Novel
Travis Banton
Costume Design
Popular Reviews
15 reviews
Aisyouu
5.0★ · 12/22/25
She really pissed me off
She really pissed me off
Erik Olsson
8.0★ · 12/21/25
Certainly one of the most Pre-Code movies in the pantheon of Pre-Code movies, occasionally even nightmarish. Miriam Hopkins is phenomenal as always, and Jack La Rue's character is just evil incarnate. The most soulless, emptiest eyes.
Certainly one of the most Pre-Code movies in the pantheon of Pre-Code movies, occasionally even nightmarish. Miriam Hopkins is phenomenal as always, and Jack La Rue's character is just evil incarnate. The most soulless, emptiest eyes.
Lilly
7.0★ · 08/24/25
Sad to think what could have been if they never made the Hays Code. Booooooooo Puritanism. Booooooo censorship.
Sad to think what could have been if they never made the Hays Code. Booooooooo Puritanism. Booooooo censorship.
Tony Hightower
5.0★ · 12/03/24
A dense, atmospheric little pre-code story about a wayward judge's daughter who falls in with some backwoods bootleggers.
Miriam Hopkins does a solid job as the spoiled party girl in way over her head, surrounded by predators of all kinds. Everyone else plays their one note faithfully, and Hopkins delivers her closing testimony with plenty of appropriate tension & tears. (It's a rare movie that could have benefited from an extra fifteen minutes runtime.)
As lurid and tawdry as this story is, it still cleans up a lot of the Faulkner novel it's drawn from, out of necessity. If you like your backwoods noirs good & creepy, this will be your thing.
Miriam Hopkins does a solid job as the spoiled party girl in way over her head, surrounded by predators of all kinds. Everyone else plays their one note faithfully, and Hopkins delivers her closing testimony with plenty of appropriate tension & tears. (It's a rare movie that could have benefited from an extra fifteen minutes runtime.)
As lurid and tawdry as this story is, it still cleans up a lot of the Faulkner novel it's drawn from, out of necessity. If you like your backwoods noirs good & creepy, this will be your thing.
A dense, atmospheric little pre-code story about a wayward judge's daughter who falls in with some backwoods bootleggers.
Miriam Hopkins does a solid job as the spoiled party girl in way over her head, surrounded by predators of all kinds. Everyone else plays their one note faithfully, and Hopkins delivers her closing testimony with plenty of appropriate tension & tears. (It's a rare movie that could have benefited from an extra fifteen minutes runtime.)
As lurid and tawdry as this story is, it still cleans up a lot of the Faulkner novel it's drawn from, out of necessity. If you like your backwoods noirs good & creepy, this will be your thing.
Miriam Hopkins does a solid job as the spoiled party girl in way over her head, surrounded by predators of all kinds. Everyone else plays their one note faithfully, and Hopkins delivers her closing testimony with plenty of appropriate tension & tears. (It's a rare movie that could have benefited from an extra fifteen minutes runtime.)
As lurid and tawdry as this story is, it still cleans up a lot of the Faulkner novel it's drawn from, out of necessity. If you like your backwoods noirs good & creepy, this will be your thing.
Cami
6.0★ · 06/29/21
This was hard to watch but I loved Miriam Hopkins here. She was very good. I hated the ending though and especially that public defender suitor of hers.
This was hard to watch but I loved Miriam Hopkins here. She was very good. I hated the ending though and especially that public defender suitor of hers.