Mason is an alcoholic lawyer who has lived in seclusion since his wife left him 15 years earlier. His daughter, Chaplin, runs around with a swinging crowd, and when one of them is found dead, evidence points to Bertoya, another member of the group. Mason comes out of retirement to defend
the boy and finally pieces the puzzle together to expose Ogilvy as the real killer. Mason's professionalism and talent redeem the scenes he's in, but the rest of the film is hopeless. Georges Simenon's novel was previously filmed in France in 1942 and released in the US as STRANGER IN THE HOUSE in
1949.
