Courtroom Drama. Lawyers, witnesses, bailiffs, objections. Simply drama or its own parade? Evidence, speeches, good woodwork. Tons of dialogue or great claustrophobia? Fury (1936), Miracle on 34th Street (1947), The Caine Mutiny (1954), 12 Angry Men (1957), Paths of Glory (1957), Witness for the Prosecution (1957), I Want To Live! (1958), Anatomy of a Murder (1959), Compulsion (1959), The Young Philadelphians (1959), Inherit the Wind (1960), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), To Kill a Mockingbird (1962), A Man For All Seasons (1966), In Cold Blood (1967), …And Justice For All (1979), Kramer vs. Kramer (1979), Breaker Morant (1980), The Verdict (1982), A Soldier’s Story (1984), Jagged Edge (1985), Suspect (1987), A Cry in the Dark aka Evil Angels (1988), The Accused (1988), Family Business (1989).
And the list goes on… Presumed Innocent (1990), Reversal of Fortune (1990), Regarding Henry (1991), JFK (1991), A Few Good Men (1992), My Cousin Vinny (1992), The Firm (1993), The Pelican Brief (1993), Philadelphia (1993), The Client (1994), Murder in the First (1995), A Time to Kill (1996), Sleepers (1996), Primal Fear (1996), The Chamber (1996), Ghosts of Mississippi (1996), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), The Rainmaker (1997), The Devil’s Advocate (1997), Amistad (1997), A Civil Action (1998), Brokedown Palace (1999), The Hurricane (1999), Erin Brokovich (2000), Legally Blond (2001), I Am Sam (2001), High Crimes (2002), Runaway Jury (2003), The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005), Find Me Guilty (2006), Fracture (2007), Michael Clayton (2007), Beyond a Reasonable Doubt (2009), The Lincoln Lawyer (2011), The Judge (2014), Roman J. Israel Esq (2017), Dark Waters (2019), The Trial of the Chicago 7 (2020). Whew! THAT’S EXHAUSTING!
And we can’t forget television. Perry Mason, The Defenders, L.A. Law, Law & Order, Matlock, The Practice, Ally McBeal, Boston Legal, the Law & Order offshoots.
Long way around the courtroom. What defines this to you? And what are the best examples of it? And worst?