Anatomy of a Murder: I had never seen this 1959 film, which appeared in a retrospective of Otto Preminger's work at this year's
New York Jewish Film Festival. It is the gripping courtroom drama about a husband who killed the man who had raped his wife, and then claimed temporary insanity. The cast was amazing: Jimmy Stewart played the defense attorney, a young Lee Remick as the wife, an equally young Ben Gazzara as the husband, a still young-ish George C. Scott as the assistant attorney general helping out the in-over-his-head district attorney, Eve Arden as Stewart's secretary... It goes on and on, including the real-life lawyer famous for scolding Joseph McCarthy at the Army-McCarthy hearings playing the judge. It was also the first film to explicitly talk about rape, contraception, etc. Some people (even Jimmy Stewart's father) were outraged, and the film was banned in Chicago.
Being a lawyer, I know that courtroom dramas are distortions. For instance, in a real trial, attorneys never come right up to a witness and lean in to ask a question. Despite this, I found the film quite compelling. The performances were excellent, and my attention never lagged, throughout its 2 hour and 40 minute length.
You can watch the entire film for free on YouTube using the first link above.
