Illegal is a 1955 American film noir directed by Lewis Allen. It stars Edward G. Robinson, Nina Foch, Hugh Marlowe and Jayne Mansfield. It is the third film adaptation of the 1929 play "The Mouthpiece" by Frank J. Collins, following The Mouthpiece and The Man Who Talked Too Much. Plot Victor Scott is a district attorney with a spectacular courtroom style. He acknowledges having risen from the slums and needing to win every case. He is assisted by attorney Ellen Miles, who is not quite as relentless, but is devoted to her D.A. boss. They have had a long relationship: in the past, Scott was encouraged and mentored by Ellen's own father, who, on his deathbed, got Scott to promise to protect Ellen. It is hinted Ellen would have welcomed a romantic relationship, but instead Scott encourages her to marry a co-worker, Ray Borden. Scott prosecutes a sensational murder case (that of Gloria Benson, whose murder opens the film) and the jury hands down a guilty verdict. The judge sentences Edward Clary to die in the electric chair (not shown in the film) and the success of the case spurs Scott's interest in running for Governor. However, at the very hour of the execution, Scott discovers that a man whom police shot during the commission of a crime, confessed (in a dying declaration) to the murder. The declaration is deemed legitimate although no reason for the murder of Benson is referenced. Scott tries, but fails, to stop the execution. Although the opposing attorneys, the jury, and the judge performed their respective duties in accordance with the law, the death of an innocent man greatly disturbs Scott; he resigns and falls into an alcoholic haze and is shunned by many former allies. While appearing in court on his own charge of being drunk and disorderly, he meets a man accused of a death in relation to a huge brawl and decides to defend him in court. He challenges a prosecution witness, a very large man, Mr. Taylor (Henry Kulky), whom Scott says was knocked out during a brawl and could not have witnessed the crime. When the man says a man the size of the defendant's size or Scott's size could not knock him out, Scott sucker-punches him with an obscured roll of nickels (that act like brass knuckles), knocking him down and, briefly, out. The case is dismissed and Scott