Wolf of New York [1940] [DVD]

Edmund Lowe is a great criminal-defense attorney. He gets all the crooks off. That's why former girlfriend and secretary Rose Hobart left him. However, his current client is innocent, and he has the witness to prove it. Instead of going to his friend, DA Jerome Cowan to offer exculpatory evidence, he holds him as his final, surprise witness... and the guy is assassinated the night before he is to testify. Lowe's client goes to the chair, then a deathbed confession proves him innocent, so Cowan, who tries all his office's cases, resigns. Lowe is appointed DA and sets about cleaning up the town. Some good performances (including the reliable William Demarest as Lowe's investigator) and fast-moving direction by William McGann keep this one moving along in the style of a 1930s Warners B. ~ imdb