Cert X
Courtroom histrionics given sizzle and sex by Otto Preminger’s masterly, provocative direction and Duke Ellington’s jazz in this complex, thought-provoking drama, one of the finest legal contest films ever made. Based on a real-life case in 1952, the film is especially memorable for the gritty, quirky performance of star James Stewart, ably supported by leading players Ben Gazzara, Lee Remick, Arthur O’Connell and George C. Scott. Nominated for seven Oscars, including Best Picture, the film’s use of – in its day – ‘racy’ dialogue proved a turning point in the subsequent liberalisation of film censorship.
Dir: Otto Preminger, USA, 160mins, 1959
Programme Notes
Director Otto Preminger’s vice-like grip controls this complex and thought-provoking courtroom thriller, one of the finest ever made. It is based on the once highly popular and famous bestselling novel by Robert Traver (nom de plume of John D Voelker, a Michigan Supreme Court Justice judge as well as crime writer) who based his book on a 1952 murder case in which he was the defence attorney.
On his best form, James Stewart gives an effortlessly canny performance as Paul Biegler, the laid-back defence lawyer who takes on the case of army lieutenant Frederick Manion (Ben Gazzara) who has been indicted for the shooting of a bar owner he believes attacked and raped his flirtatious young wife Laura (brilliantly played by Lee Remick). In court at his murder trial, Manion pleads the defence of temporary insanity.
Moral ambivalence cuts through the heart of the film. We know that Manion’s quick-tempered roughneck is no good and that his wife Laura is trailer trash. Preminger, though, is more interested in what can be proved – and, as Biegler’s slippery legal eagle makes a mockery of the district attorney (George C Scott), what can be proved isn’t much. “Just answer the question,” an exasperated Judge Weaver (Joseph N Welch) wearily tells one witness “The attorneys will provide the wisecracks”
Terrific though Traver’s story, the screenplay by Wendell Mayes and Preminger’s direction individually are, it is the performances that are most memorable here, including Arthur O’Connell as Biegler’s drunken Irish attorney ally and confidant Parnell Emmett McCarthy, George C Scott as the silkily threatening prosecutor Claude Dancer and, as the man in charge, Judge Weaver, real-life lawyer Joseph N Welch, famous at the time for confronting and berating Senator Joe McCarthy during the 1954 USA Army-McCarthy Senate Subcommittee hearings.
Permission to use what, at the time, was considered racy language that shocked some contemporary audiences (and the star’s father), proved a milestone in subsequently liberalising film censorship.
The film gained seven Oscar, three BAFTA and four Golden Globe nominations but surprisingly no wins. However, James Stewart won Best Actor award at the 1959 Venice Film Festival and the Best Actor prize from the New York Film Critics’ Circle. Duke Ellington won a soundtrack album Grammy award for his superb jazz score.
Acknowledgments: Derek Winnert, derekwinnert.com, Jamie Russell, BBCi-Films
“This gripping envelope-pusher, the most popular film by Hollywood provocateur Otto Preminger, was ground-breaking [for] its frank discussion of sex – but more than anything else, it is a striking depiction of the power of words”
Gary Tooze, DVDBeaver.com
Comments
Stylish, witty and gripping
A tour de force – very enjoyable
One of Preminger’s finest – superb acting performances all round, even down to the minor roles. Gripping and tense throughout – a long film but didn’t seem so, it was just that good!