My friend, poet Bob Berner, emailed me the other night after he watched PATHS OF GLORY and BREAKER MORANT suggesting I do a movie list of films that feature trials.
He added ANATOMY OF A MURDER, JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG, and INHERIT THE WIND, as well, all of which I dig and hopefully would have come up with on my own. So here’s the list, built on Bob’s initial suggestions:
ANATOMY OF A MURDER, ADAM’S RIB, and THE ACCUSED
BREAKER MORANT
CAINE MUTINY, THE and COMPULSION
DEVIL AND DANIEL WEBSTER, THE (old favorite black and white flick with Walter Houston and Edward Arnold, two old film actors I loved as a kid)
ERIN BROCKOVICH
FEW GOOD MEN, A
GALILEO (not great but not bad screen version of Brecht’s play)
HELTER SKELTER (this may have been a TV movie, but it was great, especially Steve Railsbeck as Manson)
INHERIT THE WIND and IN THE NAME OF THE FATHER
JUDGMENT AT NUREMBERG and THE JAGGED EDGE
KNOCK ON ANY DOOR (Bogie’s the lawyer)
LEGALLY BLONDE (hey, I dug it)
MICHAEL CLAYTON and MY COUSIN VINNY (still works every time)
NUTS (not too many people dug this, but I thought Streisand was great in it)
O LUCKY MAN! (not exactly a “courtroom drama” but it does have a Brit bewigged judge in a crucial scene and one of my favorite soundtracks by Alan Price, the keyboardist from the Animals)
PATHS OF GLORY and PHILADELPHIA
QUIZ SHOW (not exactly a trial, but Congressional hearing is pretty close)
REVERSAL OF FORTUNE
SOLDIER’S STORY, A
TO KILL A MOCKINGBIRD and TWELVE ANGRY MEN
U?
VERDICT, THE
WITNESS FOR THE PROSECUTION (Charles Laughton at his best)
X?
YOUNG SAVAGES, THE and THE YOUNG PHILADELPHIANS
ZOOT SUIT
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4 comments:
Three increasingly bizarre nominees:
First, "Defending Your Life" - with Albert Brooks justifying himself in the afterlife.
Then, what about that incredible "trial" the underworld conducts on Peter Lorre in "M"? And lastly, the trial that the carnival freaks hold for the mean girlfriend in "Freaks."
I must be in a strange mood today. I think I need to cut down on the caffeine - R
"MY COUSIN VINNY'
Lal--Oyez, that trial scene in "M" is a gasser. And another under the letter M would be "Man For All Seasons, A." Bob B.
DEFENDING YOUR LIFE, M, and FREAKS are all terrific additions, as is MAN FOR ALL SEASONS, but anonymous, MY COUSIN VINNY was already on the list as it's one of my all time favorite flicks (i.e. can watch it anytime and dig it).
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