Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (1956): cast, story & where to watch

Released in 1956, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt is a drama, crime and mystery film directed by Fritz Lang, running about 80 minutes. “Put them all together they spell M-U-R-D-E-R !” — that tagline sets the tone.

What it’s about. A newspaper publisher, wanting to prove a point about the insufficiency of circumstantial evidence, talks his possible son-in-law Tom into a hoax in an attempt to expose ineptitude of the city's hard-line district attorney. The plan is to have Tom plant clues leading to his arrest for killing a female nightclub dancer. Once Tom is found guilty, he is to reveal the setup and humiliate the DA.

Who’s in it. Beyond a Reasonable Doubt stars Dana Andrews as Tom Garrett, Joan Fontaine as Susan Spencer, Sidney Blackmer as Austin Spencer and Arthur Franz as Bob Hale, among others.

How it landed. With an audience score of 6.9/10, Beyond a Reasonable Doubt has drawn a solid, mixed-to-positive response.

Where to watch. In US you can rent or buy it from Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies and YouTube. See the full, country-by-country breakdown on our where to watch Beyond a Reasonable Doubt page.

If you liked it. Fans of Beyond a Reasonable Doubt tend to enjoy The Shawshank Redemption, The Godfather, Schindler's List and The Godfather Part II.