Amazon.com Essentials:
Otto Preminger turned this 1959 courtroom drama, based on the
popular novel, into
terrific adult drama. James Stewart stars as a small-town lawyer who
defends an army officer (Ben Gazzara) accused of murdering a bartender
who assaulted his wife (Lee Remick). The taut script, large
performance by Stewart, and then-daring elements of the story (words
like "panties" are spoken in the context of discussing a sex crime)
give the action a certain immediacy--which you don't find very often
in today's movies about jurisprudence. Nice work by Remick and
Gazzara, as well as George C. Scott, Arthur O'Connell, and real-life
judge Joseph N. Welch, who plays the judge in this film. A very good
experience all around. --Tom Keogh
