An attorney defends a hoodlum of murder, using the oppressiveness of the slums to appeal to the court.
Knock on Any Door is a 1949 American courtroom trial film noir directed by Nicholas Ray and starring Humphrey Bogart. The movie was based on the 1947 novel of the same name by Willard Motley. The picture gave actor John Derek his breakthrough role as young hoodlum Nick Romano, whose motto was "Live fast, die young, and have a good-looking corpse."