The film was re-released as Call It Murder by Screen Guild Productions (Guaranteed Pictures) in 1949 after Bogart became a star; he was given top billing, although he is present in few scenes and was credited eighth in the original release.

A woman named Ethel Saxton is on trial for shooting her lover to death; her defense is that she did not mean to kill him, but fired under extreme emotional pressure because she could not stand that he was leaving her.

Weldon's daughter Stella met a charming man named Gar Boni at the trial, and in the ensuing weeks has fallen madly in love with him.

The journalist pretends to broadcast details of Ethel screaming and collapsing as she is led to the chair, though we see her, in intercut scenes, suffering and fearing but walking to her death with dignity.

Luckily, the D.A.’s men investigate the murder scene and find that the bullet that killed Gar came from another car across the street; he was the victim of a gangland rubout, not the crime of passion Stella thought she committed.