A courtroom drama with not one but two trials, and nothing we see during them seems productive of the jury verdicts that are rendered, so that is a serious fault. Not much of it is realistic either, but that is par for the (Perry Mason) course.

On the plus side, The Tattered Dress has a pip of a wordless opening sequence, well directed by Jack Arnold, and offers a choice if insufficiently motivated role for Jack Carson, playing against type as an evil sheriff.

I am not the world’s biggest Jeff Chandler fan, but he acquits himself reasonably well in the lead as a cocky “New York lawyer” who defends an obvious murderer in the desert West. It is mildly daring that he is far from heroic, a philanderer and problem gambler.

Poor Jeanne Crain has the definition of a thankless role as his estranged wife. Elaine Stewart, Gail Russell, and George Tobias drop in and out of the proceedings - the screenplay pinwheels off in several directions, none of them really fully explored. Although a screen original, this would actually make a better novel - more room to breathe.

Fun fact: The night-time sets for the residential areas of the town are clearly the same ones used in Man Afraid, also released by Universal in 1957.