For Them That Trespass

While the plot centers around murder, Alberto Cavalcanti’s visually splendid For Them That Trespass is really about the crime of silence. In this case, the silence is Christopher Drew’s (Stephen Murray), a struggling writer who withholds information about a murder, which results in an innocent man, Herb Logan (Richard Todd), being convicted based on circumstantial evidence and incarcerated for 15 years. By the time he gets out, Drew is a world-famous author whose work provides Logan with a clue about the real killer, setting him off to clear his name. Cavalcanti effectively creates the cramped quarters — and female bar brawls — of Edwardian London, especially at night, when moonlit streets swallow crowds and waves of light shimmer against tenement buildings. The film is fast-paced, moody, and suspenseful, including a frightening scene in which barfly Frankie Ketchen (Rosalyn Boulter) is violently interrogated and threatened by a jealous lover.