10 Essential Movies You Need To Tick Off Your Bucket List

There are flashier offerings in the courtroom drama canon - 12 Angry Men, for example - but Anatomy Of A Murder may be the best realised. A controversial picture on its 1959 release, it forensically examines the US legal system, as well as tackling a dicey case involving sexual assault and temporary insanity.

James Stewart is perfectly cast as the country lawyer with more smarts than his small town ways would suggest, up against George C Scott’s city slicker prosecutor. The trial involves a soldier who claims momentary madness caused him to murder his wife’s attackers, though the lengthy, detailed trial pulls back the layers on the stories as it rolls along.

There are revelations and bits of withheld evidence, but none of the usual histrionics you tend to find with the genre. Instead it relies on the inherent drama of a real juicy court case, with the attorneys and their teams locked in a gripping battle of wits.

It’s refreshing to see a film tackling heavy issues while remaining so completely free of melodrama, and the subtlety has kept it from dating like some other films of the era have. A low key shout for James Stewart’s best movie.