The Devil Is Driving
Cast & Crew
Harry Lachman
Richard Dix
Joan Perry
Nana Bryant
Ien Wulf
Elisha Cook Jr.
Film Details
Technical Specs
Synopsis
Attorney Paul Driscoll successfully defends Tony Stevens, a wealthy young man, against charges of murder caused by drunken driving, even though he knows that he is guilty. Following Tony's acquittal, John Driscoll, his father, shows his gratitude to Paul for having defended his son, and uses his influence to get Paul elected as district attorney. However, Paul's girl friend, Eve Hammond, does not approve of Paul's actions, and she loses respect for him. Two years pass, and Paul, now the district attorney, works hard to pass strict laws against drunk driving. When Tony's girl friend, Kitty Wooster, accuses Tony of being drunk and leaves him, he steals an automobile and chases her. Tony sideswipes her car and causes her death when it goes over an embankment. Kitty's father, who perjured himself in Tony's trail and now seeks to avenge his daughter's death, faces difficulty in his endeavor, as John has already begun to protect his son by bribing "witnesses" to testify that he was not drunk at the time of the accident. When it becomes clear to Paul that Sam Nelson, the only real witness to the fact that Tony was drunk, is supressing the truth in his testimony, he realizes that Nelson, too, has been bribed. At the expense of perjuring himself, Paul, who feels responsible for having let a killer go free, tells the judge the truth about Tony's first murder trial, and Tony eventually confesses his guilt. Following the trial, Paul is forced to relinquish his post as district attorney, but, as he redeemed himself at the end of the proceedings, his successor forgives him and appoints him to head the Highway Safety League. The court later suspends Paul's sentence, and he regains the respect of Eve.
Director
Harry Lachman
Cast
Richard Dix
Joan Perry
Nana Bryant
Ien Wulf
Elisha Cook Jr.
Henry Kolker
Walter Kingsford
Ann Rutherford
Frank Wilson
Paul Harvey
John Wray
Charles C. Wilson
Frederick Burton
Frank Reicher
Charles Irwin
Laura Treadwell
Sam Nelson
C. Montague Shaw
Robert Emmett Keane
Maynard Holmes
Dora Early
Raymond Lawrence
Horace Murphy
Grace Goodall
Byron Foulger
Hugh Mcarthur
Eddie Baker
Ted Oliver
Lee Phelps
Frank Melton
Jack Gardner
Walter Anthony Merrill
Richard French
Fern Emmett
Monte Vandergrift
Gladden James
Lucille Lund
Robert Mckenzie
Ann Howard
Tina Marshall
Billy Arnold
Lee Prather
Bruce Sidney
Antrim Short
Georgia Cooper
Mary Blackwood
Edward Peil Sr.
Eddie Laughton
Mildred Gaye
Ralph Mccullough
Lorna Dunn
Rosemary Theby
Gladys Gale
Lee Willard
Lew Davis
Crew
Arthur Black
Richard Blake
Harold Buchman
Edward Chodorov
Al Clark
George Cooper
Guy Endore
Stephen Goosson
Robert Lee Johnson
Kalloch
Joseph Krumgold
Lee Loeb
William J. Mcgrath
James Millican
Jo Milward
Fred Niblo Jr.
William Perlberg
Edmund Seward
Allen G. Siegler
Eugene Solow
Morris Stoloff
Arthur Strawn
Film Details
Technical Specs
Quotes
Trivia
Notes
A working title for this film was Death Marches On. A November 1936 Daily Variety news item noted that Max Marcin was set to supervise the production, but his participation in the final film has not been determined. According to material contained in the file for the film in the MPAA/PCA Collection at the AMPAS Library, in March 1936, the PCA, after having read the first draft of the script, urged Columbia to make a number of changes in the story to make it eligible for certification. Among the changes requested were: the murderer in the film should receive a stronger punishment; and the district attorney should not be shown permitting a miscarriage of justice in the courtroom. The PCA also took issue with a scene showing "Tony" undressing for a bath in the presence of newspaper reporters, and the showing of machine guns in the hands of gangsters.
