My Son Is Guilty


1h 3m 1939
My Son Is Guilty

Brief Synopsis

Tim Kerry, a cop on the beat in Hell's Kitchen, welcomes his grown son Ritzy home after a two-year prison term. Ritzy's former friends and his ex-girl Julia join with Tim in hoping he'll go straight. But local gang leader Claire Morelli (the former boss's widow) knows of Ritzy's talents from other ex-cons, and makes him an offer hard to refuse. A chain of double-crosses seems to make tragedy inevitable...

Film Details

Also Known As
Cop from Hell's Kitchen
Genre
Crime
Release Date
Dec 28, 1939
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 3m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6 reels

Synopsis

Tim Kerry and his son Ritzy live on opposite sides of the law. Tim is a dedicated police officer while Ritzy has chosen to follow a life of crime. Released after serving a bitter two-year prison term, Ritzy promises his father that he will go straight. On the the night of his release, however, Ritzy attends a dance with his former girl friend, Julia Allen, where he is approached by mobster Duke Mason, who forces him to go to the apartment of the mobster boss's widow, Claire Morelli. After sending Julia home with her friend Barney, Ritzy visits the apartment, arriving just as the police begin surrounding the building. Ritzy warns the gangsters in time to escape, and at their country hideout, Claire proposes that Ritzy work for the gang undercover. Claire's plan comes to fruition when Tim finds Ritzy a job working in the police radio department, where he short circuits a transmitter so that it malfunctions at the moment that Ritzy is to summon the police cars to a robbery staged by Claire's gang. The robbery occurs on Tim's beat, and when Tim is shot by the fleeing robbers, his suspicions are aroused and he orders Ritzy tailed. But Ritzy escapes his pursuers, and the hospitalized Tim, learning from the commissioner that they suspect Ritzy to be the leader, is heartbroken by his son's betrayal and determines to bring him to justice. Tim trails the gang to their hideout and kills Ritzy when he reaches for his gun to silence his father.

Film Details

Also Known As
Cop from Hell's Kitchen
Genre
Crime
Release Date
Dec 28, 1939
Premiere Information
not available
Production Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Distribution Company
Columbia Pictures Corp.
Country
United States

Technical Specs

Duration
1h 3m
Sound
Mono (Western Electric Mirrophonic Recording)
Color
Black and White
Theatrical Aspect Ratio
1.37 : 1
Film Length
6 reels

Quotes

Trivia

Notes

A working title for this film was Cop from Hell's Kitchen. A Hollywood Reporter production chart includes Glen Walker in the film, but his appearance in the released film has not been confirmed.