Studios would occasionally reuse scripts from previous hits to save time and money. When this practice occurred, stories were updated to appeal to a contemporary audience. In 1944 RKO was looking to put one of its leading 'B' stars Tom Conway in a new crime film; so execs decided to bring HAT COAT AND GLOVE out of mothballs and retitle it A NIGHT OF ADVENTURE.
The 1934 original starred Ricardo Cortez. He was a last-minute replacement for John Barrymore, who was too drunk to work. Mr. Barrymore had previously played a high-powered attorney in COUNSELLOR AT LAW. This story is about a brilliant legal mind who is responsible for a woman's death but evades justice.
What's interesting about RKO updating the material ten years later is that the production code was in full force this time around. But Conway's character is still able to get away with everything. Although the woman's death is accidental, he would surely face an involuntary manslaughter charge. None of that is addressed in this version.
Instead the focus is on how Conway helps defend the lover (Louis Borel) of his estranged wife (Audrey Long). The other man has been accused of the crime since the dead woman was someone that worked for him, and her body was discovered in his apartment by a girl dropping off the laundry (Nancy Gates).
Of course we've seen Conway at the apartment earlier, which most of the other characters don't know. Conway had gone there to confront his wife's lover, met the other woman instead and learned she was suicidal. As he tried to take a gun away from her, it went off.
The trial scenes are very well played. Most of what transpires in court reflects back on Conway indirectly, as well as his fractured marriage to Long. There's an excellent moment where a man who runs a haberdashery is giving testimony. He is asked about a glove that was found next to the victim's body. The lover is asked to try on the glove. It fits, though this is a coincidence that he has the same size hand as Conway.
Conway then tries on the glove, showing that it also fits him. And it should, since it belonged to him! Naturally the jury is thoroughly confused. As his wife looks on among the crowd of spectators, it is clear that Conway has succeeded in establishing reasonable doubt. Any man with the same size hand could have been the killer.
The glove scene reminds us of the O. J. Simpson trial which occurred over 50 years later. It also reminds us that the judicial process can be manipulated. Conway's character is able to use smoke and mirrors to prevent a wrongful conviction. After the trial is over, he gets his wife back...and they all go on with their humdrum lives.
The 1934 original starred Ricardo Cortez. He was a last-minute replacement for John Barrymore, who was too drunk to work. Mr. Barrymore had previously played a high-powered attorney in COUNSELLOR AT LAW. This story is about a brilliant legal mind who is responsible for a woman's death but evades justice.
What's interesting about RKO updating the material ten years later is that the production code was in full force this time around. But Conway's character is still able to get away with everything. Although the woman's death is accidental, he would surely face an involuntary manslaughter charge. None of that is addressed in this version.
Instead the focus is on how Conway helps defend the lover (Louis Borel) of his estranged wife (Audrey Long). The other man has been accused of the crime since the dead woman was someone that worked for him, and her body was discovered in his apartment by a girl dropping off the laundry (Nancy Gates).
Of course we've seen Conway at the apartment earlier, which most of the other characters don't know. Conway had gone there to confront his wife's lover, met the other woman instead and learned she was suicidal. As he tried to take a gun away from her, it went off.
The trial scenes are very well played. Most of what transpires in court reflects back on Conway indirectly, as well as his fractured marriage to Long. There's an excellent moment where a man who runs a haberdashery is giving testimony. He is asked about a glove that was found next to the victim's body. The lover is asked to try on the glove. It fits, though this is a coincidence that he has the same size hand as Conway.
Conway then tries on the glove, showing that it also fits him. And it should, since it belonged to him! Naturally the jury is thoroughly confused. As his wife looks on among the crowd of spectators, it is clear that Conway has succeeded in establishing reasonable doubt. Any man with the same size hand could have been the killer.
The glove scene reminds us of the O. J. Simpson trial which occurred over 50 years later. It also reminds us that the judicial process can be manipulated. Conway's character is able to use smoke and mirrors to prevent a wrongful conviction. After the trial is over, he gets his wife back...and they all go on with their humdrum lives.