Anatomy of a Murder

Rating:
Summary: One Of Jimmy's Best! And Lee Remick Cinches The Deal!
Review: This 1959 courtroom drama starring the incomparable Jimmy Stewart is one of my favorite Stewart films. Jimmy's portrayal of a defense attorney is spot-on perfect here, in my view.

There's a great supporting cast in force here as well, including Geoge C. Scott, Ben Gazzara, Arthur O'Connell, Eve Arden (hilarious, as always, in the role of Stewart's secretary), Murray Hamilton, Orson Bean, and the always-fetching Lee Remick (whose alluring quality is undeniable in this motion picture).

Keep an eye open for Howard McNear (Floyd the Barber in "The Andy Griffith Show") as a witness. It's quite humorous--and maybe even a tad bit unsettling even--to hear Floyd Lawson on the witness stand, speaking of sexual matters. Mayberry-ites would gasp in shock & horror I imagine. LOL.

Clocking in at a very lengthy 160 minutes, the film never drags. It moves at a snappy-enough pace to keep our interest the whole way, with a nice combination of scenes both inside and outside the courtroom.

There's an outstanding Duke Ellington score to propel the action, and as a bonus on the DVD edition, there's a perfectly-fantastic Photo Gallery section of stills from the film, underscored by Ellington's music from the movie. This is the best and classiest "Photo Gallery" extra you're likely to encounter on any DVD product as of this date.

Picture quality on the DVD looks just fine here. Aspect ratio is 1.33:1 (Full Frame), which I know irks the "Widescreen Only" crowd. However, from all the info I can gather, the 1.33 ratio IS indeed the Original Aspect Ratio for this film. So, it's OK by me, if this is the case.

If "Anatomy Of A Murder" is not currently in your DVD collection, you should probably be taken to court by lawyer Stewart for overlooking this fine motion picture experience. Get it now -- before Jimmy comes after you with a subpoena. :)

Rating:
Summary: Oscar-winner movie
Review: Allowing for the difference in movie-making over the past 40-50 years, it is easy to see why this film picked up some Oscars in its day. Excellent performances and a twist ending make the viewing sheer pleasure.

Rating:
Summary: An irresistible impulse to see this movie
Review: One of James Stewart's greatest roles and movies, Otto Preminger's Anatomy Of A Murder, has him as Paul Biegler, former public prosecutor who spends most of his time fishing. That is, until his boozing partner Parnell McCarthy tells him about the Manning incident. A certain Lieutenant Frank Manning shot the owner of a bar, Barney Quill, five times after learning that the latter raped his wife. That's quite a change in fortunes, according to his secretary Mayda, who tells him, "What appointments? People will think you have migrated into the woods."

Biegler has a rough one. There are four options to get Manning off the hook: 1) Quill committed suicide, 2) Manning didn't do it, 3) he was legally justified, and 4) it was an excusable killing. Biegler can't use #3 because of the time element--Manning killed Quill an hour later, which makes it premeditated murder.

Then there's Laura, Manning's luscious wife, described by Mayda as "soft, easy, the kind of woman men like to take advantage of, and do." one of those women men like to show off, but may get jealous if too much attention is paid to her. Laura sticks by her husband all the same.

The courtroom scenes become impassioned with the usual objections called by both sides, to the point that the weary but overly patient judge tells a smart-aleck witness, "Just answer the question. The attorneys will provide the wisecracks." The best one comes from Biegler at the expense of an expert witness there to observe. "Is he here to observe the constellation of Taurus or the life and times of a bumblebee?" At least it gets a laugh in the courtroom.

Apart from Stewart, Arthur O'Connell, best known as the older cowboy in Bus Stop, does wonders as Parnell. Lee Remick turns in a sexy but assertive performance as Laura. This was also one of George C. Scott's early roles. He is Claude Dancer, assistant attorney general from Lansing, assisting the prosecution.

This movie gained controversy for the then-considered graphic description of the assault in the courtroom, but also when Laura tells Biegler that Quill "tore my panties off." In fact the Hays Code denied the picture a censors certificate, but the Supreme Court wisely permitted the release of the film in 1959.

Duke Ellington's mellowed music serves as a cooling off after the heated court sessions. Duke himself appears as Pie Eye, piano-playing leader of a band, and he and Stewart share a few bars together.

Eve Arden's tart lines are in plenty supply: "If this refrigerator gets any more fish, it'll swim upstream and spawn all by itself."

Parnell has a great reflective soliloquy on the justice system while Paul plays the piano. "Twelve different minds, twelve different hearts, twelve different walks of life, twelve sets of eyes, ears, shapes and sizes, are asked to judge another human being as different as they are from one each other. In their judgment, they must become of one mind, unanimous. It must be one of the miracles of man's disorganized minds that they can do it." Biegler's attempts to do that is what this movie is about.