Living Dangerously (1936)

When Doctor Stanley Norton finds his partner, Doctor Henry Pryor, has been illegally selling drugs to addicts, he dissolves the partnership. Seeking revenge, Pryor accuses Norton of misconduct with Pryor's wife, Helen. The case is reviewed before the General Medical Council and Norton is struck off the register on the false testimony of Vera Kennedy, Pryor's mistress. The case discloses that Norton and Helen love each other and it also publicly reveals Pryor's traffic in drugs and he is sentenced to two years in prison. Helen and Norton migrate to the state of Montana and after dreary years of struggle, under another name, achieves success. He is a famous Park Avenue heart specialist when Pryor, embittered, broken and bent on revenge, gets into Norton's home by a ruse. His game is blackmail and his weapon the fact that Helen is still his lawful wife. Norton goes momentarily mad as he sees his life once more on the brink of ruin. He kills Pryor and then tells his story to his friend, the New York City district attorney, who finally declares that the shooting of Pryor was in self defense.