AllMovie

Popular silent-screen star Leatrice Joy made an adequate talking-picture debut in MGM's The Bellamy Trial. The film was based on a novel by Frances Noyes Hart, which in turn was allegedly inspired by a true story. Told in flashback form (a la Elmer Rice's On Trial), the story concerns the events leading up to the brutal murder of two-timing temptress Mimi Bellamy (Margaret Livingston). As Sue and Pat Ives (Leatrice Joy and George Barraud) fight for their lives in court, a pair of intrepid reporters (Betty Bronson, Edward Nugent) fall in love. Charles Middleton -- best known for his full-bodied performance as Ming the Merciless in the Flash Gordon serials -- delivers the most impressive performance as a ruthless district attorney. Completed as a silent film, The Bellamy Trial was partially reshot as a talkie -- the second MGM release to undergo this treatment (the first was William Haines' Jimmy Valentine).