Anatomy of a Murder (1959) directed by Otto Preminger
Anatomy of a Murder is one of the longest courtroom dramas I've ever seen, but I was never once uninterested or bored. It was fascinating for me to watch the case unfold much like an episode of Law and Order, but only better and starring James Stewart. How could you go wrong? Stewart plays defense attorney Paul Biegler who takes on the case of Frederick Manion, a man who kills his wife's rapist. There is no question that Manion killed him, but there is the matter of his level of guilt. The premise is almost like A Time To Kill when Samuel L Jackson guns down his daughter's rapists except that you have very little sympathy for Manion in this film.
What is interesting is that Manion isn't portrayed as a good honest man defending his wife's honor. He is seen as jealous, violent and cruel and not very worthy of our sympathies or of Biegler's hard fought defense. And this film doesn't actually answer the pressing questions moviegoers want to know. Was Manion actually temporarily insane? Was he the one who beat his wife Laura? Was Laura actually even raped? Instead Anatomy of a Murder focuses on the process of the trial itself without the high drama behind it. Testimony is presented in detail, argued and picked apart until the truth becomes a fuzzy line that could go either way. It is a rare courtroom drama where not only are we unsure of the outcome, we are unsure who we want to even win. Whether or not we like Manion or whether or not we think he did it is irrelevant.
The film is superbly acted by the great James Stewart in one of his finest performances. He is opposed by George C Scott who plays the assistant state attorney. They are helped by a strong script that shows a detailed knowledge of not just law but how to argue a case. I also thought Lee Ann Remick who plays the wife Laura was also very good and quite pretty. In some scenes she is a dead ringer for January Jones.
Oh, another thing that I found interesting was just how lurid and ahead of its time the film seems. It deals with issues of rape and domestic violence. This is the oldest movie that I can remember that dealt with these issues which makes the film hold up very well.
Grade: A-
Anatomy of a Murder is one of the longest courtroom dramas I've ever seen, but I was never once uninterested or bored. It was fascinating for me to watch the case unfold much like an episode of Law and Order, but only better and starring James Stewart. How could you go wrong? Stewart plays defense attorney Paul Biegler who takes on the case of Frederick Manion, a man who kills his wife's rapist. There is no question that Manion killed him, but there is the matter of his level of guilt. The premise is almost like A Time To Kill when Samuel L Jackson guns down his daughter's rapists except that you have very little sympathy for Manion in this film.
What is interesting is that Manion isn't portrayed as a good honest man defending his wife's honor. He is seen as jealous, violent and cruel and not very worthy of our sympathies or of Biegler's hard fought defense. And this film doesn't actually answer the pressing questions moviegoers want to know. Was Manion actually temporarily insane? Was he the one who beat his wife Laura? Was Laura actually even raped? Instead Anatomy of a Murder focuses on the process of the trial itself without the high drama behind it. Testimony is presented in detail, argued and picked apart until the truth becomes a fuzzy line that could go either way. It is a rare courtroom drama where not only are we unsure of the outcome, we are unsure who we want to even win. Whether or not we like Manion or whether or not we think he did it is irrelevant.
The film is superbly acted by the great James Stewart in one of his finest performances. He is opposed by George C Scott who plays the assistant state attorney. They are helped by a strong script that shows a detailed knowledge of not just law but how to argue a case. I also thought Lee Ann Remick who plays the wife Laura was also very good and quite pretty. In some scenes she is a dead ringer for January Jones.
Oh, another thing that I found interesting was just how lurid and ahead of its time the film seems. It deals with issues of rape and domestic violence. This is the oldest movie that I can remember that dealt with these issues which makes the film hold up very well.
Grade: A-
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