The FACDL is having a movie night on March 24 when local Miami auteurs Billy Corbin and Alfred Spellman will screen and discuss an early documentary - Raw Deal- A Question of Consent- about the unfounded claims of sexual assault by an exotic dancer against UF fraternity members in the late 1990's.
Here is all the info for the event at FACDL's website.
What is the legal movie you watch before heading into trial?
Mr. Markus watches A Few Good Men, which is a great one. The cross of Jack Nicholson is epic.
Personally, we go for Paul Newman and The Verdict. Spectacular cast and a great story. Miles O'Shea as the dirty judge- a topic near and dear to our heart. The scene in chambers when Newman dresses down the Judge "I know about you. You were a bagman for the boys downtown. You couldn't hack it then and you can't hack it now" is Alex Michaelsesque.
Jack Warden plays the law school mentor to down and out Paul Newman who has one last case to turn his career around. James Mason is the smart and smooth defense attorney in a medical malpractice case. Early in the movie Newman and Mason discuss opposing counsel. Newman comments that he's a good man. Warden responds "He's the prince of fucking darkness. He'll have witnesses testifying they saw our client [who was in a coma] waterskiing in Wapole a week after going to the hospital." Classic stuff.
Then there is My Cousin Vinny, perfectly cast and played out.
One underrated movie is Judgement at Nuremberg, about a small-town US Judge (played by Spencer Tracey) leading a panel of three judges hearing the trial of German Judges who became Nazis and participated in the corruption of the German legal system under Nazi rule. Tracey identifies with one of the German judges on trial. A very young Maxamilian Schell is an aggressive and young defender of the Judge.
What's your go-to trial prep movie?
UPDATE- Ones we forgot
12 Angry Men. How did we forget this one? Henry Fonda was so enamored
Anatomy of a Murder.
UPDATE 2
How did we ever forget To Kill A Mockingbird and the neat courtroom trick where Atticus Finch tosses his client- Tom Robinson- something when he is on the stand. One of his arms doesn't work and the "victim" testified he beat her with both hands.
And how did we ever forget The Caine Mutiny? Humphrey Bogart as the captain who is slowly losing it. And A very young Jose Ferrer as an already bitter defense attorney who wins the case. There is a whole Hollywood back story to Jose Ferrer getting the part. He was superb. But there was a vociferous debate about whether the American Public would accept a Hispanic man defending a white man in court, based on where the country was at the time circa 1954. Let's put it this way- Ferrer was a stretch to get the studio heads to accept at the time, Syndey Poitier would have been out of the question.
23 comments:
You've asked this question before I think, and I still have to go with Anatomy of a Murder, with Jimmy Stewart as the wily, country boy defense attorney and George C. Scott as the special prosecutor from "the Big City of Flint." Close second is And Justice For All with Al Pacino on the other end of the emotional spectrum from Jimmy Stewart and responsible for one of the greatest opening statements in legal history.
Jack Warden, not Warren.
Anatomy of a Murder. Love the back and forth between Biegler and Dancer; Jimmy Stewart and George C. Scott. Music by Duke Ellington. Charming small-town judge. And of course, the irresistible impulse defense.
Anatomy of a Murder (1959), starring Jimmy Stewart, Lee Remick, Ben Gazzara, Eve Arden, George C. Scott, Arthur O'Connell, Kathryn Grant, Brooks West (Arden's husband), Orson Bean, and Murray Hamilton. The judge was played by Joseph N. Welch, a real-life lawyer famous for dressing down Joseph McCarthy during the Army–McCarthy hearings. It has a musical score by Duke Ellington, who also appears in the film.
ALSO:
Paths of Glory (1957),co-written and directed by Stanley Kubrick, based on the novel of the same name by Humphrey Cobb. Set during World War I, the film stars Kirk Douglas as Colonel Dax, the commanding officer of French soldiers who refuse to continue a suicidal attack, after which Dax attempts to defend them against charges of cowardice in a court-martial.
You cannot go wrong with either of the above.
My Cousin Vinny is probably one of the best movies to use to teach trials. I've also always enjoyed A Time to Kill. Very good cast and story.
Come on Rump. You are losing it. And Justice For All gets the gold medal in this category.
omg its NureMberg. What a dolt.
Rumpole, when I was a lot younger, it was True Believer, with James Woods. If we were just listing great trial movies, I would say Twelve Angry men.
And Justice For All
The Caine Mutiny
Campaign chain email today for Judge George Sarduy. Be careful it looks like a scam. Picture on the email doesn't even look like Sarduy.
The Hurricane. I got a 27 count across the board acquittal in a home invasion case after watching parts of that movie in an endless loop while preparing my closing.
I'd have to say "A Civil Action" because it's the most accurate.
It portrays the legal process for what it is...an expensive, grueling, tedious war of attrition that ends indecisively with no closure or resolution whatsoever. The lawyers for "David" ended up ruined and bankrupt, while "Goliath" goes on happily polluting and the lawyers for "Goliath" go on their merry way charging $10,000 per hour.
It's a cliche, but To Kill a Mockingbird. Gregory Peck wiping spit off his glasses with his handkerchief!
A Civil Action and My Cousin Vinny.
The Lincoln Lawyer is really accurate about the business of criminal defense.
Witness for the Prosecution.
The OX Bow Incident -
The story of what happens when there is No Trial, No Judge , No Evidence Just MOB Justice
Michael Clayton
Funny that you ask that question…
https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.facdl.org/download/1375.2481?AWSAccessKeyId=AKIAIZGD7FMLIYLBZNIA&Expires=1646782293&Signature=Bm435S%2FEfAqoBEpwS6sp%2FZ%2Bild4%3D
FACDL The Defender magazine, page 33.
Witness for the Prosecution (1957) - Charles Laughton is wonderful and his cross examinations are great fun to watch.
Breaker Morant
The end of the The Caine Mutiny, is phenomenal. The jew lawyer, walks them, then drunkenly chews them all out. In the book, his being Jewish is why he's joined the Navy.
The cool thing is the lawyer is a badass. He's the most badass guy in the movie; a true warrior. He's a white stocking New York city lawyer who gave up the practice to fly fighter planes. He's wounded, and while recuperating get assigned the mutineer's defense. Just a break from killing Nazis.
"I'm gonna drink a toast to you, Mr. Keefer. From the beginning you hated the Navy. And then you thought up this whole idea. And you managed to keep your skirts nice, and starched, and clean, even in the court martial. Steve Maryk will always be remembered as a mutineer. But you, you'll publish your novel, you'll make a million bucks, you'll marry a big movie star, and for the rest of your life you'll live with your conscience, if you have any. Now here's to the real author of 'The Caine Mutiny.' Here's to you, Mr. Keefer. [splashes wine in Keefer's face] If you wanna do anything about it, I'll be outside. I'm a lot drunker than you are, so it'll be a fair fight."
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