Anatomy of a Murder
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Movie Reviews of Anatomy of a Murder
Movie Review: Anatomy of a Classic
Summary: 5 Stars
Using a popular novel by an actual attorney, director Otto Preminger pushed the bounds of 1959 American movie censorship by directing and producing one of the most frank, hard-hitting, and engrossing films of the 1950's. It was certainly the most adult film that James Stewart had made up to that time and, given his preference for "family films" in later years, this may have been the most shocking film of his career. Its honesty and innovations are such that it remains remarkably realstic and relevant today.
Filmed mostly on location in and around Marquette, Michigan (on the picturesque Upper Peninsula, near Lake Superior), "Anatomy of a Murder" has few dull moments, if any. It is certainly one of the most accurate, authentic courtroom dramas ever filmed, especially since the judge is played by the legendary attorney Joseph Welch, who had presided over the Army-McCarthy Senate hearings of 1954. Welch is absolutely delightful and fascinating to watch, a true natural in his portrayal of a "country judge."
James Stewart is the defense attorney in the story, defending Ben Gazzara's character, who is accused of murdering the man who allegedly raped his wife (played by the sexy and beautiful Lee Remick). He matches wits with a prosecuting attorney played by George C. Scott in one his earliest major roles. The legal sparring between the two attorneys, sometimes including a local prosecutor, makes for great drama.
Stewart is aided by a crusty, alcholic, older attorney played by veteran actor Arthur O'Connell, and his wise-cracking, sarcastic secretary, played by Eve Arden, who was then best known for her work on the long-running "Our Miss Brooks" television series.
As Stewart does some investigation of the case, he visits an inn that is run by Kathyrn Grant, who was actually Kathryn Crosby in real life. He eventually learns an amazing secret from Miss Grant.
Adding to the delight of the film is an encounter with the one-and-only jazz musician Duke Ellington, who also composed the syncopated, magical music for the production. Stewart was a gifted amateur musician and, when he sits down at the piano with Ellington, there is a special, quite enjoyable treat.
Otto Preminger continually strived for greater originality and innovation in his films. Known for his autocratic direction, Preminger nevertheless sought to make more realstic films as he battled with those who wanted to keep Hollywood within strict moral bounds.
Preminger obviously recognized that Hollywood needed to tell the truth, even if it might be unpleasant or disturbing. Perhaps the presence of James Stewart helped to make the mention of women's underwear and even rape more palatable during the trial in this rather controversial film. It may be hard for younger viewers to imagine that this film was quite incredible for 1959, especially in America; only the French and Italian filmmakers were able to go farther during the 1950's. Perhaps things have gone too far in recent years, but this film is clearly honest and realistic.
The stark black and white photography adds to the atmosphere of the Upper Peninsula location filming, particularly in the scenes in the woods, around the lake, and even the towns. Overall, this remains a very entertaining and fascinating film.
Movie Review: Not Just Another Jury Story
Summary: 5 Stars
Anatomy of a Murder with James Stewart is not just another tired old story about a Jury struggling to reach a just and proper verdict. Its not just about lawyers doing legal battle in the courtroom against insurmountable odds. No it is percisely because the "Anatomy of a Murder" DVD is so much more than the sum of its parts it would be difficult \ impossible for me to explain why it is so awesome in a full meaningful way in this so limited forum.
In the context of speaking about a suspected rape the word panties was used in the movie. Now you must understand this movie was made in the 1950's when such things had a shock value all their own. When Anatomy of a Murder was made Rape, Panties, the motives of low common rakish men driven by base vulgar carnal animal passions or other such subjects suggestive of anything even remotely sexual were never talked about with the directness and candor found in the movie.
More than that the story told by Anatomy of a Murder is woven as a wonderful tale of small town bar room dives, fallen vampish ladies, seedy men and drunken sots all clamoring without much success to retain a already shreded razor thin vaneer of pseudo-respectiability. Anatomy of a Murder is at once both a delightful mystery and a suspenseful thiller for those would would rather think about all the many dimensions and layers of intrique going on in a movie rather than be spoon fed a formulaic plot.
The especially fine part about Anatomy of a Murder is that it explores and lays bare the most horrid sort of people without the movie itself becoming trashy or sensational. Anatomy of a Murder manages to stay at all times respectable making you more than comfortable watching BUT, the people you see are so real muddling on with their tired flawed individualistic or selfish senses of humanity.
Anatomy of a Murder is funny, tragic and sad yet not a downer because, you kind of like the people. I am sure anyone watching the movie will see in the charcters people we have seen or know today which keeps subject matter in Anatomy of a Murder fresh even after all these years since it was made.
To enjoy this movie you must have at least some thinking skills because the characters are rich and dynamic. In Anatomy of a Murder Truth is one man's darling, another man's mistress sometimes loved other times set out on the street with the rubbish. What happens when a good girl goes bad, can the village vixen have even a hint of virtue. Who knows what happens on an innocent ride home when for many of their own different convoluted reasons truth remains nothing but a nodding aquintance to every character you meet in Anatomy of a Murder.
Even Jimmy Stewart known for his good guy roles as the lawyer in Anatomy of a Murder is not always without taint he reveals that exposure a harlots song long enough will even stir the recesses of his soul. As I said this movie is interesting and rich on many levels if you want to know more you just have to buy the movie at Amazon.com like I did. Tell you what, Anatomy of a Murder is one of the better movies in my collection.
Movie Review: "I beg the court...let me cut into the apple"
Summary: 5 Stars
This film hooks you in the first minute with Saul Bass' brilliant titles and Duke Ellington's music, and then has you caught for the duration in the next few scenes; the dialogue is sharp and intelligent, and at the age of 50, Jimmy Stewart gives one of the best performances of his illustrious career, as Paul Biegler, an attorney who would rather be fishing than getting fees for his work. Stewart is so natural, so real, and so immensely likable. He's the kind of guy you wish you could have in your family, but wily enough to argue a good defense in court.Lee Remick has just the right amount of provocative sensuality as Laura Manion to make one wonder what exactly happened on the "fateful night" in question.
After playing Southern belles in both "A Face in the Crowd" (1957) and "The Long Hot Summer" (1958), Remick was offered the role of Laura because Lana Turner, who was supposed to play the part, refused to wear an "off-the-rack" wardrobe, and wanted dresses designed by Jean Louis (hardly what a Army wife would be wearing). It was a big break for Remick, and she makes the most of it.
The entire supporting cast is superb: Ben Gazzara as the intense Lt. Manion, Arthur O'Connell as Biegler's assistant and friend, Eve Arden as Biegler's loyal secretary. George C. Scott is Dancer, the Assistant State Attorney, and Joseph N. Welch, who gained fame for being the Special Counsel for the Army in the Army-McCarthy Congressional hearings, is a delight as Judge Weaver. Duke Ellington makes a cameo appearance as Pie Eye, and even Muffy the beer drinking dog does a great job. Otto Preminger's direction flows at a lovely pace, with a balance between the dramatic tension and thoughtful scenes tinged with humor.
There were Oscar nominations for Best Actor, Supporting Actor (both O'Connell and Scott), Picture, and Editing (all losing to "Ben Hur"), as well as Sam Leavitt's beautiful b&w cinematography (lost to "The Diary of Anne Frank") and Wendell Mayes marvelous screenplay adaptation of the Robert Traver best-seller (lost to "Room at the Top"), proving that 1959 was a great year at the movies.
I love courtroom dramas, and this is one of the best ever made; it's unpredictable, with a very authentic feel to it, perhaps because the author, using the pen name of "Robert Traver", was actually Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker.
Total running time is 160 minutes.
Movie Review: THE LETTER OF THE LAW
Summary: 5 Stars
If I'm not mistaken, ANATOMY OF A MURDER is the first Otto Preminger movie which has the honour to enter the DVD market. With Billy Wilder and Fritz Lang, Otto Preminger is one of these german or austrian native directors who built the legend of Hollywood after having left the nazi threat in the thirties. The interesting trailer of ANATOMY OF A MURDER you can find as extra feature on this DVD will give you the opportunity to hear the german accent of an Otto Preminger presenting the main actors of the film to the american audience of 1959. A curiosity for the 2001 movie fan. ANATOMY OF A MURDER is a masterpiece which has really well stood the test of time. Almost three hours of projection which you won't regret thanks to a perfect screenplay and to outstanding actors such as Ben Gazzara, George C. Scott and naturally James Stewart. One can consider this Otto Preminger production as an adult movie for the audience of that period, the word "anatomy" being considered as a metaphor or to the letter. So the evocation by the court of Lee Remick's rape is not censored and described with words one would have hardly imagined in the mouth of a movie legend such as James Stewart.
The modernity of the movie can also be observed in the way Otto Preminger manages to desanctify the "court movie" genre. Just imagine that after 165 minutes of suspense, the director doesn't judge necessary to let the audience hear the final conclusions of James Stewart and George C. Scott,the prosecutor. Totally stupefying.
As bonus features, you will enjoy the trailers of ANATOMY OF A MURDER, PHILADELPHIA and A FEW GOOD MEN, incomplete filmographies of the principal actors, three vintage advertisings and different subtitles. The most interesting bonus feature is a photo presentation of ANATOMY OF MURDER that includes numerous features of the director at work and a musical backgroung of Duke Ellington.
Now, be advised that COLUMBIA TRI-STAR has decided to present you this movie with the artistic butchery of the PAN & SCAN process so one of the most important scenes of ANATOMY OF MURDER , when George C. Scott tries to stress Lee Remick by standing right in front of her so that she can not see the signs of her lawyer James Stewart, loses a great deal of impact.
A DVD for your library.
Or for the garbage can as soon as the widescreen version is available.
Movie Review: Excellent movie and it is originally shot in ?? Take the argument to court
Summary: 5 Stars
Ok with all the reviews about this, I did some research about this on the web & this is what I got. I went to 2 different websites to see what the deal is with the Columbia full screen vs wide screen versions that Columbia has on DVD. Region 1 is full screen and region 2 is wide screen.
One website does show the differences clearly - it is a full screen movie as were a lot of movies back then. the aspect is 1:37 - not 1.85. you can see clearly from the images shown that the widescreen version is BADLY CROPPED on the top and bottom. You are missing all kinds of details on the top and bottom. Or are you ? Or were those badly cropped scenes not really supposed to be seen in the film ? Are they not intended to be there ? Is the full frame transfer showing more than intended ?
I have personally viewed both and I am keeping both the full frame and widescreen versions. Each transfer has something more to show be it the top or bottom or left to right. I dont think you can go wrong no matter how you watch it. Whether or not you see more or less isnt quite as important as 'is the film good?' And the answer is YES, this is a GREAT courtroom drama and should be part of every classic movie fans' collection.
There are also many websites which explain the controversy over this. Basically you see the full picture in a full frame print, with more background details while the widescreen print shows it is cropped from the top & bottom. There is an argument that can be made that those background scenes mean nothing and have nothing to do with the image, but again the question is - Did Otto Preminger shoot it this way to show everything ? Or was it really shot in widescreen ? Only Otto knew for sure.
TCM plays a widescreen version - the same as the Region 2 Columbia.
This is a great movie - a supreme courtroom drama with James Stewart and George C Scott. I highly recommend this movie and if you want to get the DVD - any DVD would work. If you get the Region 1 DVD - it is arguably the original aspect and should ignore the modified at the beginning. Or get the Region 2 or just watch the TCM version and enjoy it in a widescreen transfer.
I know which websites do the comparisons and each reviewer has valid reasoning to how its show. The ultimate answer is just own the movie and enjoy it no matter how much picture you get :)