The Verdict

London, 1890. In a case run by Superintendent Grodman of Scotland Yard, an innocent man goes to the gallows. The truth comes out afterwards and Grodman is removed from his post. Then a new murder is committed in a locked room: the victim is the key witness from that case. The door is bolted from inside, the window shut, no way in. His replacement takes over the investigation while Grodman watches from the side. It was Don Siegel's first feature. Sydney Greenstreet plays Grodman and Peter Lorre the painter next door, the last of the nine films the two made together. It is adapted from Israel Zangwill's novel of 1892.