Anatomy of a Murder
Anatomy of a Murder is a
1959 film starring
James Stewart,
George C. Scott,
Lee Remick,
Ben Gazzara,
Arthur O'Connell,
Eve Arden,
Kathryn Grant,
Orson Bean, and
Murray Hamilton.
Stewart plays a small-town lawyer by the name of Paul Biegler, who is the defense attorney for Lieutenant Frederic Manion (Gazzara). Lt. Manion is charged with first degree
murder for shooting a barkeeper, Barney Quill, because Quill allegedly raped Lt. Manion's wife, Laura (Remick). However, Lt. Manion is eventually acquitted under the defense of
irresistible impulse. The bulk of the film's plot revolves around the drama as it unfolds in court
The film highlights several of the law's shortcomings that stem from the fallibility of the law's human components. These components â€" the counsel for defense and prosecution, the defendant and his family, and the jury â€" have different positions on what is right or wrong, and varying regard for the values of integrity and justice. This variation allows the law to be manipulated in many ways. The most controversial legal issue in this film is the unethical witness coaching indulged in by Biegler as he spells out for Lt. Manion the only plausible defense Lt. Manion has â€" the insanity defense. Witness coaching is seen as the
subornation of perjury to a lesser extent, and prompts the defendant to conceal the truth and manipulate his story in order to obtain the best possible verdict.
The movie, based on the 1952 Big Bay Lumberjack Tavern murder trial in
Michigan's
Upper Peninsula, was adapted by
Wendell Mayes from the novel by
Robert Traver (pen name of
John D. Voelker, a Michigan Supreme Court judge from 1957-1959). It was filmed in
Big Bay (where the real murder had taken place),
Marquette,
Ishpeming, and
Michigamee, Michigan. Some scenes were actually filmed in the Thunder Bay Inn in Big Bay, Michigan,
one block away from the Lumberjack Tavern, where the actual murder took place.
The movie was directed by
Otto Preminger. The film was noted for featuring unusually frank (for
1959) dialogue, and was among the first Hollywood films that challenged the stringent
Hays Production Code.
It was nominated for
Academy Awards for
Best Actor in a Leading Role (James Stewart),
Best Actor in a Supporting Role, (Arthur O'Connell),
Best Actor in a Supporting Role (George C. Scott),
Best Cinematography, Black-and-White,
Best Film Editing (
Louis R. Loeffler,
Best Picture and
Best Writing, Screenplay Based on Material from Another Medium. Other awards include James Stewart's best actor award at the
Venice Film Festival and the
New York Film Critics Circle award for 1959.
The role of the judge was offered to both
Spencer Tracy and
Burl Ives, but finally was given to
Joseph Welch, a real-life lawyer who had made a name for himself when representing the
United States Army in hearings conducted by Sen.
Joseph McCarthy (it was he who uttered the famous line, "Have you no sense of decency, sir?" when addressing Senator McCarthy during the hearings).
The film was also noteworthy for being among the first to extensively feature jazz in the musical score--the entire musical soundtrack was played by the
Duke Ellington Orchestra (Ellington and his associate
Billy Strayhorn composed the music, and several of the Ellington band's sidemen, notably
Johnny Hodges,
Paul Gonsalves,
Harry Carney,
Russell Procope, and
William "Cat" Anderson, are heard prominently throughout). Ellington also appears briefly in a cameo as "Pie-Eye," the owner of a roadhouse which features dancing and at which James Stewart and Lee Remick have a confrontation.
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