With his sizzling dialogue and drop-dead surprises, Ed McBain has elevated the crime novel into fine art. Mary, Mary is vintage McBain. It is Christmas in Florida. The decorations are only slightly more false than the cheer, and a trial is going on - the kind of trial that grabs headlines and makes people wonder what kind of person could possibly represent the defendant. For in this case, the accused Mary Barton, is charged with the monstrous murder of three innocent young girls. Matthew Hope, the defense attorney who only represents people he believes innocent, believes the eccentric...

Part of the NFT/BFI Film Classics series, this is the story of life in a New York slum school, where young hoodlums develop their crude ways, and their teachers fight a vain and losing battle to bring a semblance of decency and honesty into their lives.