Circumstantial Evidence on AllMovie

A couple of idealistic reporters attempt to unmask an unfair system in this topical melodrama from poverty row company Chesterfield. Witnessing a man convicted of murder purely on circumstantial evidence, reporters Jim Baldwin (Chick Chandler and Spike Horton (Lee Moran) decide to demonstrate how uncivilized the system is by faking a murder of their own. But when the "victim," fellow newspaperman Fred Stevens (Arthur Vinton), turns up very much the worse for wear -- dead in fact -- Jim is found guilty on circumstantial evidence and condemned to death. He manages to escape and hunt down the real killer who, it turns out, had good reason for murder. Circumstantial Evidence, which was produced in the wake of the conviction of accused Lindbergh baby-killer Bruno Hauptmann, was based on a story by silent screen director Tom Terriss.