Courtroom Drama

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?

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To set the mood…

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I remember watching A Civil Action at some point in school.

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I love that the criminally overlooked Breaker Morant is included here. The OG Equalizer himself Edward Woodward AND Bryan Brown, c’mon.

Probably the best film of these is To Kill a Mockingbird, but the original 12 Angry Men stands out as the best courtroom drama (even if the action takes place in the jury room), if that makes sense.

Bonus points to The Verdict, Philadelphia, and My Cousin Vinny for being personal favorites, too.

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Anatomy of a Murder (1959) towers as THE courtroom drama to me. James Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O’Connell, Eve Arden, George C. Scott, Murray Hamilton, Kathryn Grant, Orson Bean, Joseph Welch, Howard McNear. Directed by Otto Preminger and 160 minutes, it burns awfully quick and is over lickety-split. The prologue, set-up to the trial, establishing of principals, and investment preceding the arraignment and the legal fencing looms large and tempers the story exuding it with personality unmatched in most legal drama. Not just the case but the people are built to last and endure long after the verdict is known.

Stewart brings the stature, Scott the heat, Remick the smile, Gazzara the intensity, Arden the wit, O’Connell the innocence, and Welch the integrity and wry wit. The stars dazzle here including the character actors populating the flick in fascination in every frame. 12 Angry Men (1957) is its equal toting another stellar ensemble announcing Sidney Lumet to the directing scene. It is my #2 and to many #1. Where it’s a touch beneath Anatomy as I see it involves the layers away from the primary attraction. The private lives of the Angry Men are not as vivid or lasting as anyone in Murder. The community of Anatomy, the multiple settings, close to twice the runtime, and the emotional variance of scenes and the flow of the piece is a masterclass in engrossment topping 12 Angry Men outside the main event and far more ambitious in its scope. 12 is a stone cold classic, a clinic of editing, and the Jury Pic of the ages. Between Anatomy and 12 Angry Men, I could live off them in perpetuity.

Stepping by those, The Caine Mutiny (1954), Paths of Glory (1957), Judgment at Nuremberg (1961), To Kill A Mockingbird (1962), The Verdict (1982), JFK (1991), The Firm (1993), A Time to Kill (1996), The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996), and The Hurricane (1999) step out as distinguished examples of the type. Nuremberg the Schlinder’s (1993) of court epics, JFK the Platoon (1986) of civic conspiracy, and Mockingbird the It’s a Wonderful Life (1946) of justice.

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Ahh My Cousin Vinny, funny, funny movie. So you have magic grits?

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I was in Inherit the Wind when I was in high school, and we also watched the movie with Spencer Tracy and it was weird seeing Gene Kelly in a movie playing an extremely abrasive character who didn’t dance one bit.

But the real courtroom drama for me remains Twelve Angry Men. Again, I watched it in high school and even though courtroom drama isn’t really my preferred genre, there was something that just stuck with me as a teenager.

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12 Angry Men (1957) snatches you from your unsuspecting life. There’s little else like it. A dozen strangers sitting around a table chit-chatting and shooting the breeze. Coughing, fiddling with the fan, washing their hands in the restroom adjacent to where everyone is. All of them locked in until they make a decision effecting the rest of someone’s life. It starts slow advancing casually then gaining ground as the details emerge and a picture forms into view of circumstances, witnesses, and a crime. 11 votes for guilty and 1 for acquittal and gradually ever so gradually everything reverses. First one, then another, you watch it all unfold. One piece of evidence broke down a dozen different ways. Testimony examined. A timeline explained. Every i is dotted and t is crossed. It is relentless in painting you the full picture. The steady advance is a tour de force of cinema. Even those disliking old movies tend to like this one. It strikes most of us and still does.

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Gene Kelly portrays a heel. A contemptible fellow who’s insecurity defines his perspective. E.K. Hornbeck opines, wrings his hands, and raises valid arguments whereas you start to wonder whether it’s entirely a game to him. By the end, most have made a decision. Kelly wanted a role completely opposite his usual and he got it. Excluding this, Gene dances and sings in the rest.

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I agree. And he does a good job with it, but I’m glad he didn’t do those roles very often. I like watching him dance.

On roller skates!

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He’s the Master of Dance along with Astaire. Give me Singin’ in the Rain (1952) any day over sourpuss Hornbeck.

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I actually ended up seeing the remake of 12 Angry Men before the original IIRC.

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The remake? On cable, video, or in school? Tons of us see this in school.

Yeah, I believe it was in school. The one with Tony Danza.

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Ossie Davis, George C. Scott, James Gandolfini, Jack Lemmon, Hume Cronyn, Mykelti Williamson, Edward James Olmos, William L. Petersen, Courtney B. Vance. One heck of a cast.

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Which was what he was offscreen apparently. Very hard to like.

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That’s true of plenty of Hollywood talent. They glow on camera and are miserable behind the scenes.

I’m just going to leave these two videos here…

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Adam’s Rib (1949)

Domestic and professional tensions mount when a husband and wife work as opposing lawyers in a case involving a woman who shot her husband.

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Tracy and Hepburn at their best.

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