4. Anatomy of a Murder
Otto Preminger's 1959 film revolves around the murder of an inkeeper Barney Quill by Lieutenant Frederick "Manny" Manion (Ben Gazzara). Manion claims Quill raped Manion's wife, Laura (Lee Remick). Laura contacts former District Attorney Paul Biegler, (James Stewart), who lost his re-election bid, to defend Manion. Biegler comes up with the idea for Manion to plead not guilty due to insanity. Things get more complicated as the trial goes on and Beigler goes up against city prosecutor Claude Dancer (George C. Scott). This film may do the finest job, among all courtroom films, in capturing the tediousness and repetitiveness of the trial process in, as what should be a simple case gets confused by lawyers going off in all directions, for a variety of reasons. Ultimately the film gets at a certain truth about the justice system, which is in this system, lawyers aren't always concerned about getting at the truth - but will twist the truth in order to provide the best case possible for their client. The film doesn't judge the Beigler character for what he does - it simply understands what he must do. Coming the year after Hitchcock's Vertigo, Biegler is another role that subverted audience expectations for what a James Stewart character was usually like. While Biegler puts on the boy scout routine one would associate with a James Stewart character, he's a more morally ambiguous character, one whom we can like but also one whom we're aware is quite sneaky. Scott gives a staggering performance as Dancer, a man almost frighteningly smug, who represents how cold and cruel a lawyer can actually be. What I like most about Preminger's direction, which is subdued and economical, is that he allows us to see many characters in the courtroom all at once. Scott doesn't get much dialogue early on but Preminger still keeps him in frame, making us wonder what goes on beneath the surface. The stark black and white cinematography by Sam Leavitt creates the right atmosphere for the film and at nearly three hours, the film is long but consistently engaging.