Knock on Any Door

Knock on Any Door is a 1949 American courtroom trial film noir directed by Nicholas Ray and starring Humphrey Bogart. The picture gave actor John Derek a break in developing his film career and was based on the 1947 novel of the same name by Willard Motley.

Mortons strategy in the courtroom is to argue that slums breed criminals and that the community is partly to blame for crimes committed by the people who are forced to live in such miserable conditions. Through flashbacks, Morton demonstrates that Romano is more a victim of society than a naturalborn killer. Yet, Mortons strategy does not have the desired result on the jury thanks to the badgering of District Attorney Kernan George Macready. Morton, however, does manage to arouse sympathy for the plight of those trapped by birth and circumstance in a deadend existence.Producer Mark Hellinger purchased the rights to Knock on Any Door a novel by the African American novelist Willard Motley and Humphrey Bogart and Marlon Brando were to star in the production. However, after Hellinger died in late 1947, Robert Lord and Bogart formed a corporation to produce the film Santana Productions, named after Bogarts private sailing yacht. Jack L. Warner was reportedly furious at this, fearing that other stars would do the same and major studios would lose their power. ........

Source: Wikipedia