is a 1953 crime film noir directed by Don Siegel, featuring Macdonald Carey, Teresa Wright, John Craven, and Jack Elam.

Suspicion falls on hired hand George Braden, who owns a handgun that his pregnant wife Ellen disposes of in a panic.

Doug Madison is assigned the case in court, but doesn't believe in Braden's innocence until he sees Ellen diving into the lake, attempting to retrieve the gun.

After a conviction and death sentence for Braden, it comes to Madison's attention that an ex-con named Max Verne had worked for the dead man and made threats after being dismissed.

[3] Film critic Howard Thompson in The New York Times wrote: “Even with fairly thoughtful direction by Don Seigel, in addition to some nice raw photography throughout, this offering sacrifices substance of plain conviction for standardized suspense.”[4] Thompson attributes the film’s inadequacies to the screenplay by Doane H. Hoag and Karen DeWolf, which moves the action “along familiar lines with the usual sideline nod to romance and an absurdly grotesque and obvious killer dragged to the fore just in the nick of time.”[5] Praise is reserved for cinematographer John Alton, whose camerawork showcases “the solitariness of the figures against lake backgrounds, night skies, and highlighted interiors for dramatic effect.”[6]