Review of Anatomy of a Murder (1959) by Adam R — 03 Jun 2011

Despite its credentials as a first-class courtroom drama, "Anatomy of a Murder" squanders some of its excellence on the slow-moving, not particularly involving details of the case. One law professor labeled this one of the best "pure trial" movies ever made. Had the film merely stuck with the trial, rather than the circumstances around it, that assessment would seem more accurate.

Semi-retired attorney Paul Biegler (Jimmy Stewart, excellent as always) is called upon by Laura Manion (Lee Remick) to assist in the defense of her husband (Ben Gazzara), a cad of an Army officer on trial for murdering a bar tender. In addition to getting his client off though the odds -- a crime of passion filled with less-than-savory circumstances -- are stacked against the defense, Biegler also takes it upon himself to protect Laura from accusations against her character -- accusations that may have more than just a grounding in reality.

Biegler's chief opponent in the courtroom is Dancer (George C. Scott), a highly professional lawyer who, despite his outward calm and decorum, is more like a feral animal making concentrated attacks against anyone who crosses his path. The finest scenes revolve around Stewart and Scott going toe-to-toe in the courtroom, the simple country lawyer (who possesses more cunning than he lets on) and the big-city prosecutor frequently at odds.

Director Otto Preminger often seemed a filmmaker unwilling to tell a straightforward story, loading each frame with character flourishes which, despite giving color to the smoky, monochromatic, tense yarns he commonly brought to the screen, tended to trade personality for storytelling. Though it's an admirable trait (especially in this era of plot-driven, flavorless, forgettable spectacle), the sacrifice of pacing makes his films difficult to sit through. The introduction of a witness who turns out to be the victim's daughter, for example, proves less integral to the film than Preminger might like us to believe (though it does lead to a major obstacle for the prosecution).

Like the earlier "The Man with the Golden Arm," Preminger makes us spend time with his characters and makes them into three-dimensional individuals. Unfortunately, he uses less discretion in knowing whom the audience would NEED to spend time with to best advance the story, tarnishing the luster of the passionate, truly peerless scenes in the courtroom.