Hollywood law: Double jeopardy.

Here's the assistant district attorney, addressing a woman who has committed a crime:

"You see, there is a law that no one may be tried twice for the same wrong. I think it's a good law. In a way, you've been tried once, Miss Kelton, and you sentenced yourself to a bitter memory that only time can erase."

That is, the accused own self-torment is the trial and punishment that speaks in favor of a decision not to prosecute (assuming the victim of the crime wants it that way). I won't put in any further spoilers, because I highly recommend the 1949 movie "Not Wanted" about a young woman who falls for a piano player and gets pregnant. If you want to think about the problem of unwed mothers in the historical context predating birth control, abortion, and the normalization of single motherhood, this is just the thing.

This is a very cheaply made film noir, with many scenes in which 2 actors emote at and around each other. Patterns of light and shadow take the place of set design. It's melodramatic, but there's complexity to the characters. The piano player — who has what I'm just guessing is the single most common name for a character in the movies ("Steve Ryan") — is played by Leo Penn, the father of Sean Penn. Leo Penn — who's great in this movie — was later blacklisted after refusing to name names before the House Un-American Activities Committee.

The credits for "Not Wanted" display Elmer Clifton as the director, but he had a heart attack midway through the project and Ida Lupino, one of the screenwriters, took over. Lupino was an actress who — Wikipedia says — turned to directing when she was on suspension for refusing a role.

We watched "Not Wanted" via Amazon "instant video," streaming it with a Roku 3, which worked really well. The Roku 3 is great, by the way. It has an earphone plug in the remote control.