At the opening, they are pulling names out of a pool for jury duty, and one of the jurors selected is Taylor, played by Frank Thomas. it's a murder case, and Britt (Guinn Williams) will be tried for it. but then, shots are fired! and the cases are all turned around. Steve, the ace reporter, keeps running in with more news, but every time he has a scoop, it goofs things up more and more. that's the running gag. Grandpa Taylor (the Commodore, played by Fred Stone) gets involved, and gets things more screwed up. lots of yammering and talking in circles, as the gangsters try to silence any witnesses. the story kind of meanders all over... there's the subplot where we follow the Commodore around town for a while, as he tries to lose his bodyguard. so much time spent on this. the script must have come up short. let's see what was the plot again? oh yes, the Commodore promises to provide a break in "the case"... what case, at this point?? this is the one from RKO, 1936. there were also "Grand Jury" in 1959 (tv series) and a film in 1976. Directed by Al Rogell... was in silent films for YEARS before moving into talkers. Steve (Owen Davis) only had 16 roles, and died of drowning at age 41. this one is pretty weak all over. it limps along to the end, but no big deal. Now, these guys would have been arrested for obstructing justice, or witness tampering. or something.
Review of Grand Jury
