Tell It to the Judge 1949

Appointed to be a federal judge, Marsha Meredith, Rosalind Russell, is questioned by a U.S. Senate committee about her divorce from lawyer Peter Webb, Robert Cummings. The inquiry probes whether personal history should cast a shadow over a public career, and the tense exchange follows her back to Palm Beach, Florida.

She returns home to Palm Beach, where soon Peter shows up to depose showgirl Ginger Simmons, Marie McDonald, in defense of gangster George Ellerby, Douglass Dumbrille. In a flash of jealousy at spotting her ex-husband with another woman, Marsha slips into a bar and meets Alexander Darvac, Gig Young, with whom she shares a reckless spark. They slip away from a raid at a gambling spot, steal a boat, and hide out in a lighthouse, where their romance rekindles and they decide to remarry.

Yet her grandfather, Judge MacKenzie Meredith, Harry Davenport, urges patience and discretion, arguing they should keep their marriage quiet until the Senate confirms her appointment. The couple stays under the radar, but trouble returns when Ellerby jumps bail and Ginger tries to steer Peter toward him. Marsha, furious at being drawn deeper into a dangerous tangle of crime and rumor, spins a story for reporters about a supposed husband named Roogle who died on their wedding night.

Marsha retreats to Kitty Lawton’s, Katherine Warren mountain cabin to escape the glare, while Peter, looking to complicate things further, declares that Roogle is alive and on his way. To salvage the situation, Marsha asks Darvac to pretend to be Roogle, but when he presses his “husband” privileges, she has to knock him out. The scheme spirals into confusion, and the two must face the consequences of their choices.

In the end, Marsha faces a personal choice: if she must choose, happiness with Peter outweighs the lure of a meteoric career. She returns home to confront the aftermath, only to find Ginger and Darvac knocked out in the closet, a quiet reminder that love, ambition, and danger can collide in unexpected ways.