We’ve recently looked at the notion of wholesome, family friendly entertainment with different movies on Matt Lynn Digital with Jumanji (1995). We also have looked into the clean-cut reputation of the actor James Stewart. In reviewing the Otto Preminger directed movie Anatomy of a Murder (1959) as based on the 1958 Robert Traver (aka Michigan Supreme Court Justice John D. Voelker) named Anatomy of a Murder, we see a popular entertainment that turned the concepts of wholesome, family friendly and clean cut actor on their head.
Anatomy of a Murder stars James Stewart as struggling former district attorney Paul Biegler, whose amiable personality and focus on fishing belie the fact that Biegler’s law office is an underwater, poorly managed mess. In aiming to support bumbling friend Parnell McCarthy straighten a misguided, alcoholic life of his own, the case of an accused murder with Lt. Frederick Manion is presented. Arthur O’Connell portrays McCarthy as Ben Gazzara portrays Manion.
Laura Manion, as portrayed by Lee Remick, seeks the support of Biegler when her husband, Lt. Frederick Manion, is arrested for the murder of innkeeper Bernard “Barney” Quill. Frederick Manion does not deny the murder, yet seeks a defense based on the proposed mitigation that his wife, Laura, had been raped by Quill. Establishing those facts, and arguing them in a court case that promises to get salacious, makes for a clear turn from family friendly and clean cut.
Eve Arden portrays Biegler’s sardonic secretary Maida Rutledge, who aims to assist her boss loyally while pointing out points of weakness in Biegler’s approach along the way. The clear defense strategy becomes one of keeping things focused on a court case while aiming to tie a theory of temporary insanity to the underlying argument of rape.
When things get to court, prosecutor Claude Dancer, as portrayed by George C. Scott, aims to prevent this theory of the crime from ever being admitted. The skill of the prosecutorial experience and maneuvering proves formidable, as does the underlying investigation by Biegler and others to establish the facts. The question of the validity of the defense theory coupled with the sketchy quality of the witnesses of the crime make for compelling drama in what again was a salacious set of details that put Biegler, and James Stewart in his portrayal of Biegler, in a more mature perspective he hadn’t been in previously.
The music of Duke Ellington, with an uncredited part in the film itself, serves the movie Anatomy of a Murder well. The story includes intriguing twists and turns with compelling conflict that proves interesting. The exploration of where lines of legitimacy are drawn in and out of the courtroom are viewed on both sides of moral questions in Otto Preminger‘s movie. The Wendell Mayes screenplay aids in my granting 4-stars on a scale of 1-to-5.
Matt – Wednesday, June 2, 2021
Matt Lynn Digital 